ISUOG is proud to share that the success of its first project with the World Health Organization (WHO), ‘Implementation Research to Scale-up and Evaluate the Impact of Antenatal Corticosteroids on Preterm Newborn Outcomes’ (ACS-IR), has paved the way for a larger trial in July 2025.
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ACS-IR is a multi-country implementation research project aimed at reducing preterm newborn mortality across four high- burden countries (Ethiopia, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Pakistan) through implementation of a package of life-saving interventions. Accurate gestational age assessment is key for the timely identification and treatment of babies born prematurely. Seeking to improve ultrasound gestational age assessment in the countries, WHO and ISUOG started discussions in late 2024 on how ISUOG could support the WHO to take ‘master trainers’ to Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Ethiopia. “This initiative represents a vital step in bridging gaps in maternal and fetal healthcare education across regions that need it most. This collaboration embodies the power of shared knowledge in improving patient care and outcomes worldwide”, said Prof. Liona Poon, ISUOG trustee. ISUOG provided support by giving trainees access to our online training program, Basic training. This was followed by a series of state-of-the-art virtual lectures from three of ISUOG’s top faculty members, Prof. Liona Poon, Prof. Angela Ranzini and Prof. Suresh Seshadri. Prof. Angela Ranzini said: “ISUOG’s long-term vision is that every woman in the world has access to ultrasound, that every scan provider is competent, and that the diagnosis of obstetric and gynecologic conditions is effective, so that women’s health outcomes improve. The WHO/ISUOG ACS-IR project was designed with these goals in mind.” The goal was to provide training to 32 delegates across Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Nigeria. In the end, over 100 individuals were given access to the ISUOG Basic training program. Once the successful delegates were identified in the location that responded best to the training, which happened to be Pakistan, they were progressed to the next phase of lectures. Prof. Ranzini said: “I was honoured to be able to participate in the first of which I hope are many virtual seminars to provide high quality education in obstetrics and gynecology to physicians in Pakistan who are critical to achieving ISUOG's vision.” Following the success of this first stage, the project will continue with a second trial that will run from July to September 2025. For this second, more ambitious trial, ISUOG will support four different countries and a total of 144 people with Basic training provisions and further lectures from ISUOG faculty. Each selected country has an average of 12 different facilities. The aim is to train three people in each facility, totalling around 36 per country. |