Burden of stroke: Indian perspective

India will face an enormous socio-economic burden to meet the costs of stroke. Stroke prevention planning, reliable epidemiological infromation on pattern of disease and exposure to major risk factors and morbidity or mortality trends for CVD in defined populations is imperative. There is a great need to monitor these trends in a simple and reproducible way. The World Health Organization (WHO) STEPs program does this and is now being implemented in India through the Indian Collaborative Acute Stroke Study (ICASS). The initial data supports the high prevalence of vascular risk factors and the relatively young age of stroke cases in India. A number of stroke prevalence studies have been performed in recent years, further confirming the high burden of stroke in this country. Recognition of the trend in the burden of stroke in India is essential to assist target prevention and management strategies.