SRC Bangladesh-UK Pair
Schrier Award
The Schrier Award recognizes the outstanding achievements of graduated Sister Renal Center (SRC) and Sister Transplant Center (STC) pairs. The winner of the 2024 Schrier Award is the SRC Bangladesh-UK Pair:
Emerging Center: Kidney Foundation Hospital and Research Institute, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Supporting Center: Royal London Hospital, London, UK
The SRC Program with the Royal London Hospital has been instrumental in the development of Nephrology in the Bangladesh region. The Kidney Foundation Hospital is a non-profit institution, which started in 2003 with TK = 75000/ ($1000) as capital investment and six dialysis machines on loan. People with little or no resources received treatment free in this institution. In 2017, it became an ISN SRC with the Royal London Hospital. It is now the largest hospital for treatment of kidney and urological diseases, dialysis, and transplantation in Bangladesh with support from Royal London Hospital.
The Kidney Foundation Hospital has increased its capacity from 100 to 300 beds along with a 110-bed dialysis unit, 8 ICU beds, 4 HDU beds for transplant patients, 8 beds for post-operative recovery for urology patients, and 4 modern operation theatres for all interventions and operations. It has a modern diagnostic laboratory and runs an excellent outpatient facility, which can accommodate 250-300 patients per day. Over 573 CAPD has been performed and more than 700-800 patients are doing regular hospital hemodialysis with 96 dialysis machines. The hospital has a robust online system which allowed them to work remotely and continue to serve patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have a successful transplant program, performing 585 transplants to date, and initiated deceased donor kidney transplantation on January 19, 2023.
The Kidney Foundation launched three branches which are successfully running in other districts such as Pabna, Sirajgonj, and Sylhet. All these branches offer services like OPD, laboratory investigations, and hemodialysis for people with kidney failure. A training program has been started for kidney nurses, pharmacists, and kidney dieticians. The Kidney Foundation started a one-year nursing diploma course 4 years ago and graduated nurses are working in different hospital inside the country and abroad. A PhD project is being undertaken by Kidney Foundation doctors under Queen Mary University London with full scholarship as part of the ISN SRC program.
An annual convention and scientific seminar with Royal London Hospital is something the nephrology community looks forward to every year. This year, 550 participants registered for this event. The hands-on workshops and Ambassador programs on CAPD created a local faculty that can train doctors across the country. Skilled doctors from Royal London came to the Kidney Foundation to provide training on transplant biopsy, tunnelled hemodialysis catheter, CAPD, bioimpedance, and histopathology technical and clinical training. Kidney Foundation doctors went to the Royal London Hospital for hands-on training in critical care nephrology, imaging, histopathology, and clinical research. Regular biopsy teaching on complex cases contributed towards the Kidney Foundation’s academic and clinical development. The SRC partnership has enabled the Kidney Foundation to initiate affordable critical care and emergency services in the private sector which has saved many lives. Their histopathology service is processing 90 biopsy samples per month from across the country.
The Kidney Foundation had unprecedented support from their supporting center in this successful SRC partnership and achieved their set objectives.
The Schrier Award will be presented in Plenary Session 3 on Monday, April 15, 2024, taking place from 11:00 am – 12:00 pm Argentina Time in Hall A. The Schrier Awardee scientific presentation will be in the WCN Spotlight Session ‘Global Impacts on Kidney Care and Transplantation via Sister Centers Partnerships’ also on April 15, from 1:00-1:45 pm on Spotlight Stage 2.