Baby Chakraborty:- Geeta Devi, a 62-year-old woman, three years ago suddenly one day her words got confused, then she lost consciousness. When he was taken to the hospital, the family came to know that he had suffered a cerebral stroke. He was discharged after a long hospital stay. Even after all these years, he still cannot speak properly. There are many people in our country who come back from death after cerebral stroke but suffer from speech impediment throughout their life.
“World Stroke Day” is observed worldwide on 29th October. Millions of people worldwide die from stroke each year, and many suffer permanent disability for life. According to the Lancet Neurology (2019) report, at least one and a half million people worldwide are affected by this disease every year. In India this number is like 18 lakhs. Studies from around the world have shown that having a speech pathologist or speech pathologist on the stroke care team from day one of stroke patients reduces permanent speech problems by 70 percent. In this context, the speech doctor or speech pathologist of SSKM Hospital, Moh: Shahidul Arefin, said that various studies have shown that about 50 percent of people who suffer from stroke have language and speech related problems, in addition to this, a study of critical care medicine has shown It has been found that 60 percent of patients admitted to critical care suffer from dysphagia (swallowing problem) and many patients die from aspirated pneumonia. He also said that according to a report in the American Journal of Medicine (2021), many serious problems can be avoided by consulting speech pathologists to address issues such as dysphagia. It is even possible to solve speech related problems with hoarseness at the same time. It allows the patient to get back to normal much faster. Not only that, in this case, the risk of pneumonia in the respiratory tract after a cerebral attack can be reduced by up to 45 percent. The risk of speech loss is reduced, and psychological problems are also reduced to a large extent.
In several countries such as the USA, Australia and England, speech pathologists are consulted from day one when someone is admitted to the ICU due to a stroke. They are also placed in the specialist medical team. The American Stroke Association and the NSH guidelines also have specific guidelines to follow. According to these guidelines, a speech pathologist should be consulted within 24 to 48 hours after a stroke is diagnosed. After the introduction of this policy, it has been observed that the patient’s hospitalization time and cost of treatment have been reduced to a great extent. However, the Indian health system is still apathetic in this regard. In India, only 25 percent of hospital permanent speech pathologists work in specialist teams in ICUs and the entire subject is neglected. The general secretary of the organization has also sent a letter to the health secretary and the state chief secretary of the West Bengal branch of the All India Speech and Hearing Association on the occasion of World Stroke Day so that the government takes initiative in this regard and makes the hospitals as well as the general public aware. He wants this treatment to be started during and after ICU treatment. For this reason, the government should think about the common people and make quick arrangements. In this regard, he also recommended to introduce the professional method which is adopted in developed countries in this state.
