Empowering Stroke Survivors and Promoting Stroke Awareness

Headquartered at the Life After Stroke Centre, located in Okwueze Umuezearoli, Onitsha, Anambra State, Stroke Action Nigeria is a national organization dedicated to supporting stroke survivors across the country. Established with a mission to provide services that help to reduce the incidence, complications and burden of strokes in the lives of the individuals and the communities we serve.

To provide services that help to reduce the incidence, complications and burden of strokes in the lives of the individuals and the communities we serve.

To ensure that everyone affected by stroke get the help that they need to be healthy and well.

The organization traces its roots to the UK. In 1999, Dr. Rita Melifonwu — then a Ward Manager at Chase Farm Hospital (Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust) — won the UK Department of Health’s Mary Seacole Nursing Leadership Award, a £25,000 grant. Her winning application was focused on developing the role of the Nurse Consultant in evidence-based stroke care for ethnic minority patients. That award funded what became the Action Research Project, which piloted nurse-led, evidence-based interventions to reduce stroke risk and promote self-management. The LASC model was formally established in the UK in March 2000, with centres in Enfield and Barnet.

The Nigeria replication came later, with LASCs established in Onitsha and Abuja. This was supported by an Ashoka Fellowship in 2017 (backed by the Ashoka Foundation, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Philips Foundation), which enabled the social franchise model through which the LASC concept could be scaled across Nigeria and other LMICs.

SAN itself operates the Onitsha LASC as its flagship Nigerian site – the first in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

  1. Stroke Advocacy and Campaign We raise the voice of stroke survivors at community, state, and national levels — pushing for better stroke policies, funding, and public awareness across Nigeria.
  2. Community and Faith Groups Stroke Awareness Outreach We take stroke education directly to churches, mosques, markets, and neighbourhoods — reaching people where they are with FAST awareness, risk screening, and health checks.
  3. Stroke Prevention and Wellbeing Advice Clinic Our nurse-led weekly clinic offers stroke survivors and at-risk individuals personalised guidance on managing blood pressure, medication, diet, and lifestyle to prevent first or repeat strokes.
  4. Befriending Scheme No survivor should face recovery alone. Our befriending programme connects stroke survivors through support groups, peer visits, telephone check-ins, and social media — reducing isolation and rebuilding confidence.
  5. Psychosocial Support We provide emotional and psychological support to survivors, families, and young carers — helping them process the impact of stroke and develop the coping skills needed for life after stroke.
  6. Functional Rehabilitation and Exercise Training After Stroke (FRET) Our physiotherapist-guided exercise sessions improve muscle strength, balance, gait, and manual dexterity — helping survivors regain independence and get moving again.
  7. Stroke Ambassador Development & Return-to-Work Program We train recovered survivors as Stroke Ambassadors and peer coaches — empowering them to lead outreach, support others, and where possible, return to productive work or entrepreneurship.
  8. Research and Development We partner with local and international institutions to generate evidence, evaluate our programmes, and continuously improve the quality of stroke support we deliver in Nigeria.