Every year, millions of people survive a stroke, but many are left with lasting disabilities. In low- and middle-income countries, over 70% of stroke-related disabilities are concentrated, often affecting people who are still young and of working age. Unlike in wealthy countries, where cases are declining due to prevention and acute care, these regions are seeing an increase in strokes, with more severe consequences and very limited access to rehabilitation.<\/p>\n
Rehabilitation after a stroke is essential for regaining independence and quality of life. It relies on teams of physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and speech therapists, but these professionals are severely lacking in poor countries. Some African states have only a handful of specialists for millions of inhabitants. Training opportunities are rare, salaries are low, and many leave their countries to work elsewhere, worsening the shortage.<\/p>\n
Rehabilitation centers are often concentrated in major cities, leaving rural areas without resources. Expensive transportation and out-of-pocket healthcare costs make access even more difficult. Health systems focus on emergencies and neglect long-term care. As a result, after leaving the hospital, most patients receive no follow-up, despite significant needs for mobility, communication, or daily care.<\/p>\n
Solutions exist, such as training family members to assist with rehabilitation or using telemedicine. However, these approaches remain limited by a lack of infrastructure, funding, and coordination. Governments invest little in rehabilitation, which is not always covered by health insurance. Without change, the economic and social burden of strokes will continue to grow, pushing entire families into precarity.<\/p>\n
Improving the situation requires strong political will. Integrating rehabilitation into universal health systems, training more professionals, and strengthening local structures are essential steps. Without these measures, inequalities in post-stroke disability care will persist, with dramatic consequences for millions of people.<\/p>\n
DOI:<\/strong> https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s40141-026-00535-8<\/a><\/p>\n Title:<\/strong> Global Inequalities in Stroke Rehabilitation: System Capacity, Workforce, and Access in Low- and Middle-Income Countries<\/p>\n Journal:<\/strong> Current Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Reports<\/p>\n Publisher:<\/strong> Springer Science and Business Media LLC<\/p>\n Authors:<\/strong> Priyanka Boettger; Martin Juenemann; Michael Buerke; Ayush Agarwal; Omar Alhaj Omar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Why Do Stroke Survivors in Poor Countries Receive So Little Rehabilitation Care? Every year, millions of people survive a stroke, but many are left with lasting disabilities. In low- and middle-income countries, over 70% of stroke-related disabilities are concentrated, often affecting people who are still young and of working age. Unlike in wealthy countries, where… Continue reading Why Do Stroke Survivors in Poor Countries Receive So Little Rehabilitation Care?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-international","category-society","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theinternationaljournal.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theinternationaljournal.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theinternationaljournal.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theinternationaljournal.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theinternationaljournal.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theinternationaljournal.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40,"href":"https:\/\/theinternationaljournal.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39\/revisions\/40"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theinternationaljournal.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theinternationaljournal.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theinternationaljournal.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}