A worldwide COVID-19 study led by UK experts and conducted at Indian hospitals among others around the world has been awarded the 'Guinness World Records' title for the world's largest scientific collaboration, involving 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 contributed to the major research into the impact of COVID-19 on surgical patients, reported news agency Press Trust of India.
The co-lead author of the study, Indian-origin surgeon Aneel Bhangu from the University of Birmingham, said the study was aimed at improving our understanding of the deadly virus.
"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," said Dr Bhangu.
"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," he said.
Funded by the UK government's National Institute of Health Research (NIHR), the researchers 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 virus.