In 2017, the ISN and the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nephrology (ANZSN) signed a memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop a partnership to advance kidney care in the Asia Pacific region.

Since then, the ISN and ANZSN have successfully co-funded ISN Programs, including Sister Renal Centers, Clinical Research, and Educational Ambassadors Program, as well as Fellowships and CME meetings.

The ISN-ANZSN collaboration within the SRC program achieved notable success in Fiji. A paper produced by the emerging hospital in the program, demonstrating that Fiji has one of the highest rates of end-stage kidney disease worldwide, was pivotal in obtaining government funding to set up a National Kidney Research and Treatment Centre to improve access to kidney care in the region.

In 2018, an ISN CME meeting was held in collaboration with the ANZSN and the APSN in Samoa highlighting the importance of early detection of AKI and screening for and managing patients with CKD in a region where kidney disease is a growing burden.

In 2019, the ISN World Congress of Nephrology was co-hosted by the ANZSN and the APSN. The ANZSN provided substantial support toward travel grants for delegates from low and middle-income countries to attend the event.

In 2020, the ISN endorsed the ANZSN 2020 Home Dialysis Conference, which brought together health care professionals, carers, and patients from Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific to focus on building and developing home-based dialysis therapies.

ISN President, Vivek Jha, states: “This partnership reinforces the ongoing cooperation between the two societies to support the growth of nephrology in the Asia Pacific region. The successful organization of WCN19, which drew the attention of the global nephrology community to kidney health issues in the region, is an example.”