Urgent Need to Reduce the Devastating Personal and Economic Impact of these Severe Strokes

Stop AFIB: October 24, 2012

Brussels, Belgium — October 24, 2012 — Ahead of World Stroke Day 2012 (October 29), European Policy Makers have joined over 90 Medical and Patient Organisations, and more than 100,000 people, in supporting the Global Atrial Fibrillation (AF) Patient Charter and calling for National Governments and the World Health Organisation to act to make the prevention of AF-related strokes a priority. The Charter outlines ways to improve the diagnosis and management of AF which, if implemented, could stop thousands of preventable strokes from occurring each and every year.

Why Action is Needed Now?

This is an epidemic already in progress, in Europe alone ten million people are affected by AF — the most common sustained abnormal heart rhythm. However, an increasingly ageing population means that the number of Europeans affected is expected to rise to 25 to 30 million by 2050. This is very worrying because people with AF are five times more likely to experience a stroke than those without AF. Furthermore, these strokes are more severe than those that are unrelated to AF and therefore more costly in terms of impact on individuals and health and social services budgets.Read more