“A Boost to Developing Peritoneal Dialysis in Bangladesh”: ISN Granting Programs Support Hands-on Training and Scientific Meeting in Bangladesh
Dr. Stanley Fan presents a training session to staff at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital in Dhaka
ISN Granting Programs complement each other to connect experts and support the development of healthcare centers in low-resource settings, as demonstrated by recent ISN initiatives in Bangladesh.
The ISN Educational Ambassadors Program (EAP) supported Educational Ambassadors Dr. Stanley Fan (UK) and Dr. Klara Paudel (Nepal) to spend a week presenting hands-on training sessions and talks on peritoneal dialysis (PD) in different hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh in November 2022.
The visit was organized in response to a request from the ISN Sister Renal Centers (SRC) partnership between the Kidney Foundation Hospital and Research Institute in Bangladesh and the Royal London Hospital in the UK. A team at the Royal London Hospital has been supporting the kidney center through the SRC Program since 2017.
According to Dr. Fan, who runs the largest peritoneal dialysis unit in Europe, “Access to HD facilities in remote areas of Bangladesh is very limited, and the outcome of acute PD is not good; rural hospital doctors are not trained nephrologists and the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis (ISPD) guidelines for PD in AKI (2020) are not widely known.”
Dr. Klara Paudel presents a training session in PD catheter insertion to staff at the Kidney Foundation, Bangladesh in Dhaka
The visitors delivered hands-on training in PD catheter insertion, prescribing, creating local PD fluid using accessible resources according to guidelines from the ISPD, and complications and overcoming infection and drainage issues. In addition, the ambassadors helped set up continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis services in three other health centers in Dhaka.
Dr. Tasnuva Kashem, from the Kidney Foundation center, praised the initiative, saying: “The training was executed very well at three different teaching hospitals in Dhaka and was very well received by the trainees. We have received a solid base to build on and train more nephrologists across Bangladesh.”
Dr. Paudel commented: “The doctors and nurses were eager to learn and very enthusiastic. The sessions were highly interactive and useful. We feel it was a real boost to developing PD in Bangladesh.”
Dr. Fan and Dr. Paudel also delivered talks and discussed cases during a scientific seminar held during the week of their visit. The two-day conference, “Management of AKI in Special Circumstances: Role of Emergency and Critical Care,” was supported by the ISN CME Program, which allowed Dr. Sanjib Kumar Sharma (Nepal) and Dr. Katy Bennett-Richards (UK) to travel to Dhaka to present at the meeting.
The Kidney Foundation will continue to receive support from the ISN Ambassadors online as part of the center’s progress within the SRC partnership.
The ISN welcomes year-round applications for the EA Program (apply here) and the CME Program (apply here). Please note, however, that applications must be approved 3-6 months before the proposed visit or meeting. Visit the ISN website for more information, or contact isnprograms@theisn.org.
