Regional Activities

ISN RDRTF lends support in the aftermath of Nepal earthquake

According to reports from ISN RDRTF Chairman Wim Van Biesen, there are Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) casualties in three main hospitals in Pokhara, 150 kilometers Northwest of Kathmandu. There are nephrology services at the Western Regional Hospital (27 patients), Gandaki Medical College (30 patients) and the Manipal Teaching Hospital (15 patients). In these centres,...

ISN RDRTF: first reaction to earthquake in Nepal

Following the earthquake in Nepal, Wim Van Biesen, Chairman of the ISN Renal Disaster Relief Task Force (RDRTF), has sent out the first communication report. According to this report, local nephrologists are well prepared and are currently helping the chronic patients and managing the additional crush syndrome and acute kidney injury (AKI) patients. Some dialysis units have...

Post WCN 2015 panel dicussion on challenges for young investigators in low-resource settings

The 10th Conference on Kidney Disease in Disadvantaged Populations was held from March 17 to 18, 2015 in Cape Town, South Africa as a satellite symposium following the ISN World Congress of Nephrology 2015. As part of the symposium, a moderated panel discussion on research development for young investigators working in low-resource, global health...

Madras Medical Devices donates PD catheters to Saving Young Lives program in Africa

During the World Congress of Nephrology, 100 cuffed peritoneal dialysis catheters were donated to the Saving Young Lives program in Africa. Half of these were custom-made pediatric peritoneal dialysis catheters, and they  were used at the Clinical Skills training program that took place at Red Cross Hospital in Cape Town just before the congress. Nephrologists...

A fabulous World Congress of Nephrology for South Asia

The recently concluded World Congress of Nephrology in Cape Town was by all accounts a resounding success. The opening ceremony was fabulous with great interactive entertainment and fantastic inspiring addressees by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and Editor of the Lancet Richard Horton. Of note, South Asia has done fabulously well in this meeting. There was a...

Kidney disease in Uganda

The developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa are under threat by an emerging epidemic of kidney disease. Populations are no longer solely affected by ‘diseases of poverty’ such as HIV/TB/malaria but also ‘diseases of affluence’ such as diabetes and hypertension. Disease is often asymptomatic until end-stage disease develops requiring expensive treatment options such as transplant or...

Positive to positive

South African surgeon Elmi Muller carried out the first "HIV positive to positive" kidney transplants, giving hope to the country's growing number of HIV kidney patients. As more HIV positive patients are living longer thanks to breakthroughs in treatment, many show signs of other diseases including HIV nephropathy. Up until recently, these patients were not eligible...

Caring for kidney patients in Malawi

In July 2014, a new hemodialysis unit opened in Blantyre, Malawi. Blantyre is in southern Malawi, not far from the border with Mozambique. With a population of over 600,000 it is the country’s second biggest city behind the capital Lilongwe, and is a major financial centre. Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) is a tertiary...

Integrated pathology of renal diseases head talks at CME in China

This July, a Continuing Medical Education (CME) course took place Zhengzhou and Beijing, China. It was organized in two parts and focused on the topic of integrated pathologic diagnosis of renal diseases and improving techniques.The first part was organized under auspices of the 2014 International Forum of Renal Pathology and the 9th National Renal...

ISN Regional Workshop reinforces ties with Latin America

The ISN Regional Committee for Latin America organized a Regional Workshop during the XVII Congress of the Sociedad Latino Americana de Nefrologia y Hipertension (SLANH) held in Santiago, Chile, from August 20 to 24, 2014. A great means to communicate and share ideas between nephrologists in the region and ISN leaders, the workshop also helped...

Typhoon Haiyan: an update from the Philippine Society of Nephrology

Last November while Filipino nephrologists were attending Kidney Week in Atlanta Georgia, Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), struck the Eastern Visayas in the Central Philippines. At the time, ISN and the Renal Disaster Relief Task Force (RDRTF) lent their support to local nephrologists, helping renal patients in the country. CLICK HERE. Susan Anonuevo, President of the Philippine Society of...

Online training course strengthens nephrology practice in Latin America

The Sociedad Latinoamericana de Nefrología e Hipertensión and Sociedad de Transplante de América Latina y El Caribe came together last year for an online course about immunopathology and immunointervention, gathering some 600 participants from Latin America, Europe and the United States. The course was supported by ISN. ISN President Giuseppe Remuzzi gave a closing lecture and actively joined...

First nephropathology workshop in India

Anila Abraham, from the Center for Renal and Urological Pathology, along with Prof. Edwin Fernando, Head of Nephrology at Stanley Medical College and Prof. N Gopalakrishnan, Head of Nephrology at Madras Medical College, in Chennai, India organized an ISN endorsed nephropathology workshop on January 25, 2014. It was the first of its kind in...

CME supports 6th Annual Conference On Nephrology and Hypertension in Jamaica

In collaboration with the University of the West Indies, Faculty of Medical Sciences, the University of Michigan, and Ann Arbor, the Caribbean Institute of Nephrology hosted the 6th annual International Conference on Nephrology and Hypertension from January 30 to February 1st, 2014, at the Montego Bay Convention Centre under the theme: "Touching the Disadvantaged." The...

ISN and Renal Disaster Relief Task Force reach out to kidney patients in the Philippines

Following the disaster of typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, ISN and the Renal Disaster Relief Task Force (RDRTF) have supported local nephrologists in helping renal patients in the country. Susan Anonuevo, President of the Philippine Society of Nephrology (PSN) said: "We are mobilizing our team using the society's resources as well as donations from our...

Another kind of life sentence

Yesterday I was asked to consult on a young boy of 20 who has chronic kidney disease and has been on hemodialysis for a few months. Why do I tell this, you may wonder? The point is that this guy is in jail, and I went to visit him there, Regina Coeli, an old...

Call open for ISN-ANIO Clinical Nephropathology Certificate Program

The ISN-ANIO India Committee is happy to announce that the call for its Clinical Nephropathology Certificate Program is now open. Deadline for applications is January 15th, 2014. This program is aimed at pathologists and nephrologists seeking training in the principles and practice of nephropathology from all around the world. However, applicants from India, as well...