HIBAPRESS
Morocco, like the international community, celebrates World Stroke Day, which falls on October 29th of each year, under the slogan: "Every minute matters". In this context, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection is organizing, from October 29th to November 28th, 2025, a national awareness campaign on stroke prevention.
This campaign aims to highlight the importance of stroke prevention by controlling the risk factors associated with it, such as high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, and high cholesterol, in addition to raising awareness of the early warning signs of stroke. This initiative will include the implementation of measures for the early detection of risk factors associated with stroke at the level of primary health care institutions, the organization of intensive communication and awareness activities about the early warning signs of stroke, as well as highlighting the great importance of rapid care to prevent complications resulting from it. According to the World Health Organization, stroke is a major public health challenge globally, where the incidence rate is expected to reach 23 million cases by 2030, with 15 million people being affected annually, of whom 6 million die, making stroke the second most important cause of death related to cardiovascular diseases around the world. In Morocco, estimates by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation indicate that 52,561 people in Morocco suffered a stroke during 2021, resulting in 36,508 deaths. A national study conducted by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection in 2022 on the epidemiological and economic burden of smoking also revealed that 4,000 cases of ischemic stroke are directly attributable to tobacco, with a treatment cost of $3,688 per person per year. Nevertheless, up to 90% of strokes can be avoided by reducing risk factors through adopting healthy lifestyles, accompanied by appropriate care for high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol, which contributes significantly to alleviating the associated burden in our country. It should be noted that the celebration of this World Day in 2025 comes in a special strategic international context characterized by the convening of the fourth high-level meeting of the United Nations on non-communicable diseases, which was held on September 25, 2025, which reaffirmed the firm global commitment to efforts aimed at preventing and combating cardiovascular diseases, including stroke.
