Stroke is one of the leading causes of death in Latin America. Many countries in the region have committed to improving stroke care, but the effort requires addressing multiple gaps in skills, systems, supplies, and infrastructure. Most hospitals lack stroke programs, and few healthcare professionals are trained and have the resources to provide timely and effective treatment. Dedicated funding for stroke programs, research, and education is also scarce.

Hospital Nacional de Itauguá, the largest public hospital in Paraguay, was recently named the country’s primary stroke center. However, the hospital faces multiple barriers to providing the care that Paraguayan stroke patients need. For this reason, our partners at the Itauguá hospital invited the Neurosurgery and Neurology Institute (NNI) of Solidarity Bridge to co-host a Stroke and Cerebrovascular Disorders Program during the first week of June 2023.

Our NNI team includes neurosurgeons, neuro-interventional radiologists and neuro-anesthesiologists from Harvard, Stanford, University of Colorado, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and University of Massachusetts. The team also includes representatives from Stryker, a medical technology company with expertise in neurovascular care. The trip is coordinated and led by Solidarity Bridge staff.

The week-long program will begin with a Stroke Symposium, followed by a two-day microsurgical skills training course for local neurosurgical residents, held in our recently inaugurated microsurgery lab. Parallel to those events, NNI team members will work alongside their peers performing endovascular procedures for patients suffering from aneurysms or strokes, as well as open cerebrovascular surgeries for patients with high-grade arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). We will also continue our partnership in the exchange of neuro-anesthesia skills to build local capacity in this critically-important subspecialty. To fill other resource gaps that hinder access to care, team members are hand-carrying indispensable equipment, medicines, and supplies for the hospital’s neurosurgery, neuro-interventional radiology, and anesthesia services.

All of these activities are organized in collaboration with the Paraguayan Neurosurgical Society and the Paraguayan Anesthesia Society, and are backed through a formal agreement with the Paraguayan Ministry of Health. We anticipate that this ongoing collaboration will continue to yield new strategies and enthusiasm for tackling gaps in the provision of quality care for Paraguayan patients affected by stroke and other cerebrovascular conditions.

Through partnerships and collaborative actions that are measurable and sustainable, the Neurosurgery and Neurology Institute works to build capacity and expertise in Bolivia and Paraguay in order to increase access to safe, affordable and timely health care.

We are committed to alleviating the suffering, death and disability from neurological disorders and injuries that disproportionately impact patients in the countries where we serve.

Advancing Stroke and Cerebrovascular Care in Paraguay