Manipal: MAHE organizes national level Infectious Diseases Conference
Manipal, March 26, 2023: The Manipal Center for Infectious Diseases, Prasanna School of Public Health in collaboration with Departments of Medicine, Community Medicine, and Infectious Diseases at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, recently organized the 4th National Level Infectious Diseases Conference.
The conference focused on “One Health” and “Antimicrobial Resistance,” in alignment with G20 India Health track’s priority area of Health Emergencies Prevention, Preparedness, and Response. Additionally, the conference aimed to address Sustainable Development Goals 3, 4, and 17 – Good Health, Quality Education, and Partnership for Goals.
The Infectious Disease conference was inaugurated by Dr. Ramasubramanian, President of Clinical Infectious Diseases Society of India and Consultant Infectious Diseases at Apollo Hospitals, Chennai.
Dr. Sathish Rao, Directorate of Research, was the guest of honor. The conference featured discussions by Dr. Priscilla Rupali, Professor of Infectious Diseases at CMC Vellore, who talked about illnesses related to travel and their prevention, and Dr. Neha Mishra, Consultant Infectious Diseases at Manipal Hospital Bangalore, who focused on combating infections with Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria.
Additionally, Dr. Rajalakshmi, Consultant Infectious Diseases, KIMSHealth, Trivandrum, talked about Infectious Causes of Cancer and their preventive aspects, while Dr. Kavitha Saravu, Professor and Head of Infectious Diseases at KMC Manipal & MACID Coordinator, moderated interesting case discussions about infections in children with weak immune systems, bacterial and parasitic infections in adults.
World TB Day is observed on 24th March every year, as TB is the leading infectious cause of death globally. In 2021, 10.6 million people fell ill with TB, and 1.6 million died due to TB. India accounted for 27% of the global cases, with six countries accounting for 60% of the total burden. The emergence of severe forms of drug-resistant TB has worsened the situation. MDR-TB refers to TB that is resistant to rifampicin and isoniazid, two of the most critical first-line antibiotics used to treat TB. MDR-TB is a big concern in some parts of India. India aims to eliminate TB by 2025 with appropriate use of molecular tests, active screening for TB in vulnerable populations, along with prompt treatment with all oral TB medicines. The theme of the World TB Day 2023 is “Yes, We can End TB.”
The conference concluded with an interesting quiz by Dr. Praveen Tirlangi and Dr. Shivdas Rajaram Naik, where 9 teams battled it out.
Dr. Helmut Brand, Director of Prasanna School of Public Health, was the chief guest for the valedictory function. Dr. Kavitha Saravu, Head of Dept of Infectious Diseases, was the convener of the conference.
Dr. Ram Bhat, Professor of Medicine, was the Chair of the scientific committee, and Dr. Ashwini Kumar Head of Dept of Community Medicine, and Dr. Raviraj Acharya Head of Dept of Medicine, were the organizing chairpersons.
Dr. Sneha Mallya, Associate Professor of Community Medicine, proposed the vote of thanks. Dr. Cynthia Amrutha, Associate Professor of Medicine, and Dr. Eshwari Associate Professor of Community Medicine compered the program.
