European Stroke Action Plan Implementation: First Steering Committee meeting held in Munich

Munich, 29 August 2019

The first Steering Committee meeting for implementation of the European Stroke Action Plan (ESAP) took place in Munich. The Steering Committee’s main tasks include defining a strategic framework, identifying the key performance indicators (KPI) for monitoring the quality of care and reaching targets, as well as providing a definition of a dissemination strategy.

” We have a golden moment now for this plan: we can prevent and treat stroke, and globally stroke plans are shifting the tide. On the other hand, if we do not all work together- health professionals, stroke support organisations, health care providers and governments – the pure number of predicted strokes will overload the health care systems of Europe.” says Hanne Christensen, Chair of the Implementation Steering Committee.

The ESAP implementation will cover all aspects of stroke as defined by the domains:

  • Primary prevention,
  • Organisation of stroke services,
  • Management of Acute stroke,
  • Secondary Prevention,
  • Rehabilitation,
  • Evaluation of outcomes and quality,
  • and Life after stroke.

Moreover, the implementation will follow the conclusions of the published document. The ESAP Steering Committee will define KPIs and finalize these in close collaboration with the stakeholders including but not limited to national scientific societies and governmental representatives and establish a monitoring platform to ensure accountability in reaching the targets. The Steering Committee will further define a collaborative dissemination strategy together with various stakeholders.

To increase the impact of this initiative, the Steering Committee will collaborate with other existing initiatives in improvement of quality in stroke care in Europe. Within that frame, a collaboration with IRENE-COST, World Stroke Organisation (WSO), WHO Europe or other stakeholders has been a topic of discussion at the meeting in Munich.

About the Stroke Action Plan
The European Stroke Action Plan 2018-2030 is a document created as a result of ongoing collaborative work between SAFE and ESO.

Building on the preceding Helsingborg Declarations of 1995 and 2006, the European Stroke Action Plan creates an aspirational framework to drive healthcare policy, research priorities, local stroke management and patient-focused care. The ESAP is guided by the necessity to meet the requirement demonstrated in the ESO/SAFE Burden of Stroke report, with €45 billion direct and indirect healthcare costs each year, a 34% increase in strokes by the year 2035 due to the ageing population, and huge variations in the level of stroke care available across Europe.

The popular version of the Stroke Action Plan for Europe 2018-2030 can now be downloaded from HERE.
The complete scientific version, he European Stroke Action Plan is available starting from today and can be downloaded from the following LINK.

About the Steering Committee for implementation of the Stroke Action Plan
The Steering Committee consists of one chair, two co-chairs (one from SAFE, one from European Stroke Organization (ESO)), eight Steering Committee members (six from ESO, two from SAFE) and two advisors (ESO).

Members of the Implementation Steering Committee:

Chair: Hanne Christensen
Co-Chair (SAFE): Arlene Wilkie
Co-Chair (ESO): Francesca Romana Pezzella
Members (SAFE): Grethe Lunde, Jelena Misita
Members (ESO):, Bart van der Worp, Martin Dichgans, Diana Aguiar de Sousa, Robert Mikulik, Cristina Tiu, Urs Fischer
Advisors: Bo Norrving, Valeria Caso
ESO Support: Luzia Balmer