Burundi families hit hard by strokes
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Iwacu
Illustrative image · RDNE Stock project · Pexels · Licence PexelsIn Burundi, strokes are upending the lives of relatives, who interrupt their studies or work and take on high medical expenses. One family notably sold a plot of land after a hospitalised patient suffered a recurrence of a stroke, Iwacu reported.
In Burundi, strokes are disrupting the education, daily activities and finances of patients’ relatives, Iwacu reported. Gisèle Kaneza, a student at the University of Burundi, sometimes misses classes to care for her hospitalised mother, while her siblings who are still in school cannot replace her.
Hospitalisation and medication costs can force families to sell their belongings. Gérard Nibigira, whose wife is hospitalised at King Khaled Hospital after a second stroke, said he had sold a plot of land to pay for nearly a month of treatment.
Neurologist and University of Burundi lecturer-researcher Patrice Barasukana stressed the urgency of treatment, adherence to medication to prevent recurrences and improved access to diagnostic tests. He described a stroke as an emergency caused either by the obstruction of a blood vessel in the brain or by its rupture.
