The 9th Singapore Stroke Conference organised by the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI) was held from 31 August to 2 September 2007. The 3-day conference gathered an audience of 450 that included family physicians, specialists, nurses,  dietitians, social workers, therapists representing the various hospitals and professional organisations such as the Singapore National Stroke Association.

“To review the available scientific evidence to support best clinical practice, we have organised this year’s conference to be aligned with the Ministry of Health’s revision of Stroke Clinical Practical Guidelines, with highlights on Neurosonology, Acute Interventions, Secondary Prevention, Dementia, Depression and Sexuality.”
- Dr N V Ramani, the Organising Chairman and Senior Consultant Neurologist, NNI on the objective of the conference.

The conference had a faculty of both foreign and local experts sharing updates and covered many aspects of the acute interventions and secondary prevention of stroke, and its under-recognised complications and effects on mood, cognition and sexuality.

It is clear that stroke is a major healthcare issue, being one of the major causes of death and disability in Singapore and in many other parts of the world. With the ageing population, the number of people developing a stroke is set to rise. Fortunately, there are a number of effective interventions which have been proven to reduce the risk of the first stroke, as well as subsequent strokes.

This message was echoed by our Guest-of-Honour, Professor K Satkunanantham, Director of Medical Services, Ministry of Health during his opening speech. He added that “There is much more we can do to manage stroke expeditiously to improve outcome. We can also reduce complications, delay a second vascular event, and improve quality of life and independence. The brain, while to some extent still plastic, is almost never the same after a stroke. With this understanding, we should also invest in preventive measures while we continue to develop capabilities for the treatment of stroke. This, if combined with lifestyle changes including weight reduction, regular exercise and a healthy lifestyle would reduce the risk of stroke significantly.”

NNI was honoured to also host the Annual Meeting of the Asian Chapter of the World Federation of Neurology’s Neurosonology Research Group, held simultaneously with the Conference.