Simione Tuvuki 
[Source: FR]
The Ministry of Health strongly debunks the misconceptions about stroke among Fijians which hinders the treatment of people by medical professionals in the country.
Colonial War Memorial Hospital’s Senior Consultant Physician Doctor Shrish Acharya says there are a lot of misconceptions about stroke that must be discredited among Fijians.
Dr Acharya says a lot of people opt for massaging of the arm or leg when the complication is in the brain.
“People have a stroke, they want to do a lot of massage and things. I say the problem is not in the arm or leg. Some people like Hindustani, they twist the tongue … the problem is not in the tongue, the problem is in the brain.”
Dr Acharya adds there is also a lack of understanding about stroke, which allows people to take lightly the seriousness of the non-communicable disease.
He further says CWM Hospital and CounterStroke Fiji have collaborated to provide training for caregivers to offer assistance prior to and post-stroke, with over 8,000 individuals trained over the years.
The Ministry of Health has taken a significant stride in the treatment of stroke through the introduction of thrombolysis, which is the use of medicine to dissolve blood clots in the brain and restore the flow of blood within four and a half hours after people show symptoms of stroke.
Its first-ever thrombolysis for stroke was undertaken at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva earlier last month.
