BackgroundVitamin D deficiency is a widespread health problem, affecting up to 1 billion people worldwide.[1] It is increasingly recognized in developing countries, including sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where sunshine prevails all year round.[2–4] Previous studies in SSA have found highly variable prevalence of deficiency in vitamin D, affecting 9 to 49% of people. the normal population in an area well endowed with year-round sunshine.[5–7] Cultural norms, religious practices, skin pigmentation, malnutrition, diet, comorbidities such as tuberculosis and medications can contribute to vitamin D deficiency in this context. [2,3] Classically, vitamin D deficiency is known for its effects on bones, causing reduced mineralization, rickets, and osteomalacia. [1, 3] However, many new roles for vitamin D have recently come to light, with other consequences attributed to its 'deficiency.[1] Vitamin D deficiency is increasingly associated with infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and non-communicable diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and stroke.[1, 6, 8-11] Studies conducted in other settings have described a higher burden of vitamin D deficiency among acute stroke. patients than non-stroke individuals in the same environment.[11,12] Suboptimal vitamin D has been associated with many modifiable stroke risk factors, including physical inactivity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity and diabetes mellitus.[8-10, 13-15. ] Furthermore, longitudinal studies have demonstrated that vitamin D is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease and stroke.[8,12] The relationship between vitamin D deficiency and large vessel and stroke other atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases may be mediated by atherosclerotic inflammatory cytokines.[16]Among strokes...... middle of article......but the new Roche total vitamin D test we have used demonstrated a strong correlation with HPLC/MS and established radioimmunological assay techniques.[27] Due to our study design, we are unable to show a temporal relationship between vitamin D deficiency and stroke. However, studies elsewhere have often found that vitamin D is associated with stroke and may even predict stroke.[12] Ongoing studies elsewhere are examining the role of vitamin D replacement in noncommunicable diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, and cancer.[18]ConclusionsVitamin D deficiency was prevalent in 14.8% of admitted patients for a stroke. Future studies evaluating the role of vitamin D deficiency in stroke and other cardiovascular patients in our setting are warranted, especially with increasing longevity and indoor lifestyle of our population..