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Background: The African Stroke Organization (ASO) in partnership with the University of Central Lancashire's Stroke Research Team launched the Africa-UK Stroke Partnership (AUKSP). AUKSP undertook two (stroke expert and hospital Stroke Unit (SU)) on-line surveys mapping existing capacity and capability to deliver African stroke care., Methods: An on-line expert survey tool was sent to 139 stroke experts in 54 African countries October 2021-March 2022 and the hospital SU survey to 120 hospital SUs (identified from the expert survey) June-October 2022. Both survey tools were prepared according to the World Stroke Organisation's Roadmap for Delivering Quality Stroke Care. Completed responses were exported from Qualtrics into Microsoft excel and were analysed descriptively., Results: Forty-five expert responses and 62 hospital SU responses were analysed, representing 54(87%) public hospitals, 7(11%) private and 1(2%) charitable organization. In both surveys, three main priorities for improvement of stroke services were: a rapid and prompt stroke diagnosis; effective primary and secondary stroke prevention, and acute stroke management. Survey findings suggest that there is a low presence of national stroke surveillance systems and registries, and heterogeneity in availability of diagnostic services, SUs, endovascular treatments, and rehabilitation., Conclusion: Significant gaps exist in Africa's capacity and capability to deliver essential elements of effective and quality stroke care. Tackling these challenges requires urgent and sustained multi-stakeholder action including: government, administrators, policy makers and other partners. Our survey findings highlight key priority areas for multi-stakeholder engagement and crafting of a pragmatic, prioritized and context-sensitive African Stroke Action Plan., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The Authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

The prevalence of hypertension, the commonest risk factor for preventable disability and premature deaths, is rapidly increasing in Africa. The African Control of Hypertension through Innovative Epidemiology, and a Vibrant Ecosystem [ACHIEVE] conference was convened to discuss and initiate the co-implementation of the strategic solutions to tame this burden toward achieving a target of 80% for awareness, treatment, and control by the year 2030. Experts, including the academia, policymakers, patients, the WHO, and representatives of various hypertension and cardiology societies generated a 12-item communique for implementation by the stakeholders of the ACHIEVE ecosystem at the continental, national, sub-national, and local (primary) healthcare levels., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

Africa is the world's most genetically diverse, second largest, and second most populous continent, with over one billion people distributed across 54 countries. With a 23% lifetime risk of stroke, Africa has some of the highest rates of stroke worldwide and many occur in the prime of life with huge economic losses and grave implications for the individual, family, and the society in terms of mental capital, productivity, and socioeconomic progress. Tackling the escalating burden of stroke in Africa requires prioritized, multipronged, and inter-sectoral strategies tailored to the unique African epidemiological, cultural, socioeconomic, and lifestyle landscape. The African Stroke Organization (ASO) is a new pan-African coalition that brings together stroke researchers, clinicians, and other health-care professionals with participation of national and regional stroke societies and stroke support organizations. With a vision to reduce the rapidly increasing burden of stroke in Africa, the ASO has a four-pronged focus on (1) research, (2) capacity building, (3) development of stroke services, and (4) collaboration with all stakeholders. This will be delivered through advocacy, awareness, and empowerment initiatives to bring about people-focused changes in policy, clinical practice, and public education. In the spirit of the African philosophy of Ubuntu "I am because we are, " the ASO will harness the power of diversity, inclusiveness, togetherness, and team work to build a strong, enduring, and impactful platform for tackling stroke in Africa.