A worldwide COVID-19 study led by the United Kingdom experts, in conjunction with researchers from the University of Lagos and other leading universities in Nigeria, has been awarded the Guinness World Records title for the world’s largest scientific collaboration. The landmark study, led by University of Birmingham and Edinburgh experts, involved over 140,000 patients in 116 countries.

The record for ‘Most authors on a single peer-reviewed academic paper’ is now held by the Universities of Birmingham and Edinburgh after 15,025 scientists around the globe, including researchers from the University of Lagos, contributed to major research into the impact of COVID-19 on surgical patients. Funded by the UK government’s National Institute of Health Research (NIHR), the study concluded that patients waiting for elective surgery should be treated as a vulnerable group and access COVID-19 vaccines ahead of the general population, potentially helping to avoid thousands of post-operative deaths linked to the deadly virus.

Overall, the scientists, which included researchers from the University of Lagos coordinated by Professor Adesoji Ademuyiwa, Hub Director (NIHR Lagos Hub) and other researchers from Lagos State University, University of Ibadan, University of Ilorin, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, University of Abuja, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, University of Port Harcourt, Aminu Kano University, and others, estimated that global prioritisation of pre-operative vaccination for elective patients could prevent an additional 58,687 COVID-19-related deaths in one year.

This could be particularly important for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), such as Nigeria, where access to vaccination remains limited and mitigation measures like nasal swab screening and COVID-free surgical pathways to reduce the risk of virus-related complications are not available for many patients.

The COVIDSurg Collaborative international team of researchers published their findings in the British Journal of Surgery, Europe’s leading surgical journal, after studying data from 1,667 hospitals in countries, including Australia, Brazil, China, India, Nigeria, United Arab Emirate, UK and United States.

“Being awarded the Guinness World Records title for the world’s largest scientific collaboration highlights the scale of our global partnership, which aims to contribute to our understanding of COVID-19 and help to save as many lives as possible around the world.

“It marks the commitment and hard work of thousands of medical colleagues around the world to understand the changes that are needed in how surgery must be delivered if we are to beat the virus and reduce its impact on surgical patients,” study co-lead author, Mr Aneel Bhangu, a surgeon from the University of Birmingham, commented after the study scooped the global scientific recognition.

The NIHR Global Surgery Unit Nigeria Lead, Prof Ademuyiwa of the University of Lagos, stated that the study has provided guidance for policymakers in care of surgical patients around the world.

“The age of building silos is over. We must break down the silos and build bridges. Collaboration in medical research is key and will help achieve within a short time what it will take years to achieve if one goes alone. This award goes to support the proverb that says “if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go with others. This collaboration has achieved a tremendous impact by giving guidance to policy makers in care of surgical patients,” Ademuyiwa said.

For Adewale Adisa, Deputy Lead for the Nigerian Hub and hospital lead for Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, the collaboration enjoyed such a large buy-into among partners in LMICs because they are involved in all the stages of the research from design to write-up, unlike the previous models where most partners only contribute data to such studies. “The success of the Collaborative has been a great encouragement to clinical researchers in Nigeria as in many LMICs,” said Adisa.

The Principal Investigator, LASU, Dr. Omolara Williams, described the COVIDSurg Collaborative award as a delightful surprise that has reinforced the case for strong collaborations, and recognised the hard-work of all the researchers from across the globe. “The spread and diversity of the source of data contribution makes the results applicable by policy makers to different contexts and health systems in addressing the impact of Covid-19 on surgical care. Strong collaborations are essential in today’s world to harness the strength of all stakeholders. Therefore, we must encourage mutually beneficial collaborations to build capacity in medical research, achieve results faster, address disparities and bridge gaps in health outcomes,” she said.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, five billion people lacked access to surgical care and 143 million more operations per year were required globally. There was already a major global inequity in access to safe and affordable surgery across low and middle-income countries, with an urgent need to expand capacity.

The pandemic has acutely worsened that situation. Launched in March last year, the COVIDSurg Collaborative has provided data needed to support changes to surgical delivery in the fastest time frame ever seen by a surgical research group. Research from this huge study group has also explored the timing of surgery after COVID-19 infection, preoperative isolation, and risks of blood clots, all published in the field-leading journal Anaesthesia.

“Over 15,000 surgeons and anaesthetists from across 116 countries came together to contribute to this study making it the largest ever scientific collaboration, surpassing even ground-breaking research from the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland.

“Every day we hear in the news that waiting lists are growing, and patients are unable to access the surgery that they need. This situation sadly is deteriorating in countries all over the world. Policy makers can use the data from this scientific collaboration to safely restart elective surgery,” co-author Mr James Glasbey, also a surgical trainee from the University of Birmingham, commented.

During the first wave of the pandemic, up to 70 per cent of elective surgeries were postponed, resulting in an estimated 28 million procedures being delayed or cancelled. While surgery volumes have started to recover in many countries, ongoing disruption is likely to continue throughout 2021, particularly in the event of countries experiencing further waves of COVID-19. Vaccination is also likely to decrease post-operative pulmonary complications – reducing intensive care use and overall healthcare costs.