Boehringer Ingelheim India, the Indian arm of Germany headquartered biopharmaceutical firm Boehringer Ingelheim, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Public Health Department of the Government of Maharashtra (GoM).

The partnership aims to enhance stroke care services in hospitals across the state through timely and quality care to patients, while further strengthening the stroke care infrastructure in the state.

Stroke is a leading cause of death and disabilities in India and the country ranks second worldwide with 7.7 lakh deaths from stroke. The Union Ministry of Health survey for Maharashtra also indicates a high burden of non-communicable diseases (48.3%), with stroke being one of the top 10 causes of mortality. This stems from lack of public knowledge and awareness about the risk factors and treatment, and high cost of stroke care, highlighting the urgent need for prompt and adequate medical care for stroke patients.

As part of the MoU, Boehringer Ingelheim India through the ANGELS initiative will equip hospitals with capacity building of multidisciplinary stroke teams to access valuable resources including educational materials, standardisation tools, consultancy support, and a quality monitoring process.  A pilot project on stroke detection and management will be launched in five districts - Thane, Auranagabad, Pune, Nanded and Amravati, after which the programme will be launched in the rest of the state.

The Public Health Department, GoM will ensure smooth functioning and quality implementation of the project undertaken by the ANGELS initiative. This includes providing 24*7 CT scan facility with at least one technician for Face-Arms-Speech-Time (FAST) diagnosis aside from basic infrastructure and facilities.