Canadian Stroke Network to launch national strategy with increased NCE funding

The Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) has approved the Canadian Stroke Network’s (CSN) application for a second cycle of funding and given it a hefty increase to expand the scope of its research activities and launch a national Canadian Stroke Strategy in league with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (HSFC).

With its renewal, CSN’s annual federal funding jumps from an average of $4.7 million to $6.4 million, an increase of nearly 42%. CSN now receives the highest amount of any NCE, to tackle an illness that costs the Canadian economy an estimated $4 billion annually in direct and indirect costs.

“We’re delighted. We received a higher level of funding because our ambitions have grown,” says Dr Antoine Hakim, CSN’s CEO and scientific director. “What if we have a lot of new research and no one is there to absorb it. When you start stretching that, it’s a very challenging issue. What we know today is not getting done in hospitals.”

To that end, CSN has joined forces with the HSFC to launch the Canadian Stroke Strategy in an innovative arrangement to apply solutions nationally in an area that is typically the preserve of provincial governments. The Strategy calls for making Canada an international leader in stroke management by implementing a coordinated and integrated approach to stroke prevention, treatment and rehabilitation in every province and territory by 2010. HSFC has contributed $3 million to the CSN over the second funding phase.

The Strategy entails convincing provincial governments to participate in and support the initiative. Quebec and Alberta are expected to announce their commitments, with others to follow in the coming months.

“We have eminent Canadians sitting around the table, many of whom have been involved in other common strategies. We’re beginning to walk the talk,” says Hakim. “All of this is because we twisted arms, talked, showed data and did whatever we had to do. We want to bring all the parties in, show them how we can help when they make the investments. We’ll be with them every step of the way.”

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