1st APSCVIR-BSVIR Outreach Programme 2024

The 1st APSCVIR-BSVIR Outreach Programme was held from 14 to 17 May 2024, at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Super Specialized Hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was held in conjunction with the Annual Conference of the Bangladesh Society of Vascular and Interventional Radiology (BSVIR) on 15-17 May 2024.

The APSCVIR Faculty were,
Dr Jae Hwan Won (Ajou University Hospital, Korea)
Dr Shuvro Roy Choudhury (Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, India)
Dr Yozo Sato (Aichi Cancer Center Hospital, Japan)
Dr Farah Irani (Singapore General Hospital & Sengkang General Hospital, Singapore
Dr Bien Soo Tan (Singapore General Hospital, Singapore)

The main themes of the programme were Interventional Oncology and Women’s Health Intervention. The programme included recorded case demonstrations, lectures, and bench-top teaching sessions. A total of 32 lectures were delivered on the 2 themes. The programme is attached. The Annual Conference Opening Ceremony was graced by the Bangladesh Honorable Social Welfare Minister. An important feature of the conference was that BSVIR invited very senior clinicians from the related specialties to co-chair the various sessions. These 2 strategies definitely created important publicity for Interventional Radiology and raised its profile nationally.

Six bench-top teaching sessions were organized, focusing on biopsy, drainage catheters, central venous catheters, embolic agents, catheters and guidewires and ablation. A very special mention to Dr Farzana Alam, who led an enthusiastic team of residents to create very innovative simulation models for the above stations. These sessions were conducted jointly by APSCVIR and BSVIR faculty and were very well received.

Four cases were performed with the BSVIR faculty on 14 May 2024. These were hepatic transarterial chemoembolization, liver microwave ablation, uterine artery embolization for fibroids and fallopian tube recanalization. These cases were recorded and presented subsequently at the conference as teaching cases.

There were 216 registered attendees who participated in this conference, with a strong turnout on the last day even though it was a weekend. This keen interest in Interventional Radiology is very encouraging.

The faculty of APSCVIR observed that there is an important core of senior Interventional Radiologists in Bangladesh, with a good pool of younger enthusiastic colleagues. However, with a population of more than 170 million, many, many more Interventional Radiologists need to be trained. In addition, lack of resources ranging from specialized interventional suites to Interventional Radiology devices and consumables remain challenges.

The APSCVIR faculty are acknowledged for volunteering their time and sourcing their own funding for both travel and accommodation. APSCVIR is deeply grateful to BSVIR for their excellent organization and their very warm hospitality throughout the programme. The APSCVIR faculty experienced the energy of our hosts and sensed the enthusiasm among the participants, and these bode well for the future of Interventional Radiology in Bangladesh.

A virtual debrief session was held on 12 June 2024 to discuss how to make the 2nd APSCVIR-BSVIR Outreach Programme even better.

Summary Report by
Prof Tan Bien Soo