About 30% of people who have a stroke are left with some form of aphasia – trouble understanding or producing speech. Dr Filip Aleksiev of the Bulgarian Stroke Society says that adds up to more than 10,000 people a year.
He was speaking at a press conference called "50,000 hopes for life!", held today at the BTA National Press Club in Sofia to mark National Stroke Day.
Bulgaria has no register of stroke patients. Hospital figures show just over 44,000 people were diagnosed with a stroke in 2026. Aleksiev said those are only the patients treated for a stroke in hospital. The death rate is very high, he said: "just over 9% – almost 10%".
The idea of an official register has come up many times, including a proposal for regional pilot registers, Aleksiev said. The goal, he added, is full treatment that limits the damage a stroke leaves behind.
Dr Georgi Georgiev, deputy chairman of the Stroke and Aphasia Association, puts the number of strokes at around 50,000 a year. There are no official figures for repeat strokes either.
Whatever the therapy, Georgiev said, patients have to understand what is expected of them, be able to build up muscle strength and repeat the exercises.
The association and the Bulgarian Stroke Society said patients and their families need psychological support, and pointed to specialist recovery centres.
It is usually families who ask for information on therapy and rehabilitation, social rights, aids and equipment, and how to arrange care once a patient is discharged, said Dorina Dobreva, an engineer who chairs the association. The national support line has taken more than 300 calls in 365 days.
"We have helped more than 1,000 people," Dobreva said.
The two organisations offered their condolences to the families of those killed in yesterday's two pile-ups on the Trakia motorway.
The association is putting together a guide for the period after patients leave hospital, Dobreva said.