Stroke Advocacy Network

World Stroke Day was started to raise international awareness about stroke. Every six seconds, someone in the world dies of stroke, and one of every six people in the world will experience a stroke in their lifetime.

In October, organizations around the globe are speaking with one voice to recognize World Stroke Day on October 29.

In 2010, organizations from 48 countries participated in some way. However, the only official recognition from the U.S. government was information posted on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.

This year, National Stroke Association urges you to contact your members of Congress. Ask them to speak out about stroke to honor World Stroke Day. This simple action can have a huge impact. It will help spread the word about stroke and the challenges faced by stroke survivors, caregivers and family members. Also, it will educate members of Congress about how they can help improve the lives of the seven million stroke survivors in the U.S.

Support World Stroke Day and stroke awareness by responding to the Action Alert posted on the Stroke Advocacy Network website. Take action today—it only takes a minute to make a difference!

Congress has been debating funding levels for many programs, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH conducts critical biomedical and healthcare research on stroke, primarily through the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate have made their wishes clear about NIH funding for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2012). The House proposed a $1 billion funding increase over last year’s funding level, which would mean an increase of $61 million for NINDS. At the same time, the Senate proposed a $190 million cut to the NIH budget, which would lower the amount of funding available to NINDS next year. While it’s unlikely that the House and Senate will agree to each other’s proposals, these numbers will serve as a starting point for House-Senate negotiations on this issue in the coming weeks.

It’s critical that NIH be able to continue its research to help make breakthroughs in the prevention and treatment of stroke. National Stroke Association urges you to contact your members of Congress and ask them to support the higher House-proposed funding level for the NIH in FY 2012. You can do that by responding to the Action Alert posted on the Stroke Advocacy Network website. This issue will be decided in the next few weeks so take action today.

Are you interested in becoming more involved with legislative activities, but you aren’t sure how to do it? Do you want to know more about advocacy and how to be an effective stroke advocate?

The Stroke Advocacy Network can help. Watch our prerecorded webinars and learn how to make your voice heard by the members of Congress who represent you in Washington, D.C.

For the beginner advocate, the Advocacy 101 webinar explains:

• Why advocacy on stroke-related issues matters,
• The keys to influencing your members of Congress, and
• How to use the tools provided by the Stroke Advocacy Network.

Once you’ve covered the basics, the Getting to Know Your Legislators webinar walks you through identifying and learning about your members of Congress.

More webinars on additional topics will be added as they become available.