The Goa government has decided to strengthen the neurology department at the state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) here to deal with the increasing cases of brain stroke.

Health Minister Vishwajit Rane has said there has been a rise in brain stroke cases in the state due to which there is a need to strengthen the neurology department at the GMCH to deal with such instances. BJP leader and Power Minister Pandurang Madkaikar and party MLA Carlose Almeida have suffered brain stroke in the recent past.

Rane, who met senior officials of the GMCH yesterday and reviewed the functioning of various departments, said adequate manpower and modern equipment would be provided to the neurology department. "We have already strengthened the cardiology department at the GMCH by providing required manpower and equipment. We want to do a similar thing at the neurology department," he told reporters.

Rane said the government has also decided to send a senior surgeon from the GMCH for training abroad in various aspects of neurology and to deal with cases of brain stroke. Neurology is the branch of medicine that deals with treatment of disorders of the nervous system, which includes the brain and the spinal cord. "We need to have adequate infrastructure in place to handle brain stroke cases and that is being created now (at the hospital)," the minister said. Madkaikar is currently undergoing treatment in a private hospital in Mumbai, while Almeida was initially admitted to the GMCH and he later went to Kerala for further treatment.