Hi °C | Lo °C 
Stroke is a killer and the largest single cause of disability in Northern Ireland.
It destroys lives and leaves families having to cope with the aftermath of a devastating illness.
In Northern Ireland alone, 4,500 strokes occur each year, killing 1,400 patients, while the UK figure is a staggering 150,000 - accounting for more than 60,000 deaths.
So, is it any wonder that the health service here has been censured for failing to provide vital clot-busting drugs for those afflicted by stroke?
The medication - TPA - is available in the rest of the UK, as well as America, Germany, Holland and Scandinavia.
But not Northern Ireland, where a row is already raging over proposals to spend millions of taxpayers' money on works of art for hospitals.
The Chest, Heart and Stroke Association has rounded on the Government for failing to provide this proven treatment to sufferers here.
Health Minister Michael McGimpsey must place this issue at the top of his list of priorities and press his Stormont colleagues to provide the funds to make this treatment available.
This is not a question of playing politics - it is a question of life or death.
