In 2022, 120,000 people suffered a cerebrovascular accident (CVA, or stroke). The majority of strokes leave permanent after-effects, which can vary in severity: quadriplegia, hemiplegia, aphasia. Invisible disabilities are also significant: fatigue, difficulty concentrating, cognitive impairment, mood swings. Since the 2000s, to address this public health issue, a policy has been gradually implemented based on the creation of specialised services for the treatment of acute strokes, known as neurovascular units (NVU), and on the organisation of regional care networks structured around these units. The 2004 Public Health Act set the main objective of this health policy as reducing the incidence and frequency of strokes and the severity of the disabilities after-effects. Against this backdrop, the Cour wished to evaluate the public health policy dedicated to this condition. Its report is published to coincide with World Stroke Day on 29 October.
