The EVE program focused on two women leaders who come together around a common goal, to prevent and defeat stroke in women.

Sophie Amarenco and Réjane Lacoste explain their commitment to the #Agir campaign and the Woman and Stroke collective.

What is the Woman and Stroke Collective?

Women and Stroke is a collective, launched by Réjane Lacoste and Sophie Amarenco, which stems from the Vaincre l'AVC Endowment Fund and whose objective is to alert, raise awareness, screen and inform all women, regardless of their age, about their 1st cause of death, which is Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA).

This Collective was born from the observation that almost no woman knew that stroke was their 1st cause of death when it is possible to avoid stroke.

For Sophie and Réjane, it was impossible to do nothing!

With 1 in 4 women who, from the age of 25, will have a stroke in her lifetime, stroke is the 1st cause of death in women in France.

The mission of the Women and Stroke Collective is to raise awareness of stroke among women through prevention campaigns and to promote screening. All with the aim of reducing the number of stroke deaths among women.

This Collective is the story of 2 women for women, here is our interview with them :

Personally, what links you to this cause?

Sophie : " Throughout my career, I have evolved in the cardiovascular field and more particularly in the stroke field, in the pharmaceutical industry and then in medical equipment

When I was given the responsibility of launching, in France, a new treatment to prevent stroke in the event of an arrhythmia of the heart, being in direct contact with patients, I noticed the lack of information that existed on stroke and I only had in mind to create a structure to change all this.

Married to Professor Pierre Amarenco, a stroke specialist, I suggested that he create a foundation.

Our choice will be to create an Endowment Fund. »

Réjane, " My husband Michel had a stroke in 2017 and my ties with the Amarenco couple have been strengthened since then. Passionate about people and communication, the adventure tempted me right away." 

As a woman leader, do you have any advice to federate / engage / convince around your cause ?

" We are all concerned ! Together we can act !
To get involved is first of all to be convinced. The figures speak for themselves "

What is your biggest challenge in this adventure ?

Réjane : " In 2022 I set myself the challenge of crossing Lake Geneva from Lausanne to Evian, 14km freestyle. On August 22, 2023, I passed it in 6 hours and 25 minutes, in the name of the cause of women and stroke, it was a personal challenge but also a way to communicate about this disease. Sport is one of the essential tools to reduce the risk of having a stroke.

Our common goal as Sophie and I are to make as many people as possible aware of the risks of stroke by 2030 and to reduce it by 80 percent.

Prevention requires information and screening "

Sophie : " May the Eiffel Tower be illuminated in the colors of Women and Stroke!" 

You can assess your risk of stroke on their femmesetavc.org website and find out what preventive measures can do to reduce risk factors.

Find their news on femmesetavc.org, and on Instagram (@femmes_et_avc), Twitter (@femmesetavc) and LinkedIn (Women and Stroke).