Manipal: International Conference on Combating Antimicrobial Resistance held
The conference was organized as part of World Antimicrobial Awareness week 2021
Manipal Nov 19, 2021: Department of Infectious Diseases, Kasturba Medical College and Hospital, Manipal organized an International conference on combating Antimicrobial resistance on Nov 18.
The conference was organized as part of World Antimicrobial Awareness week 2021.
The theme for this year is “spread awareness and stop resistance”.
Lt. Gen. (Dr) M D Venkatesh, VICE Chancellor, MAHE, who was the chief guest said that the World Health Organization has declared Antimicrobial resistance as one of the top 10 public health threats to humanity.
“Today Antimicrobial resistance kills one person every minute and is a very complex problem which requires a united multisectoral approach. Some of the reasons for the accelerated threat are- overuse/ misuse of Antibiotics, widespread use of antibiotics in livestock, agricultural activities, poor diagnostic and prescription practices, public health issues such as hygiene, sanitization, and non-availability of clean drinking water,” he said.
Dr. Ramasubramanian, Senior Infectious Disease Consultant, Apollo Hospital, Chennai, and the President of Clinical Infectious Diseases Society of India was the Guest of Honor.
“Previously there were not many specialists in the field of infectious diseases in India. Now the Infectious disease departments have developed across many parts of the country,” he said.
He congratulated Dr. Kavitha Saravu for organizing the conference and urged all the institutional heads and policymakers to strengthen the antimicrobial surveillance and ensure that the policies are practiced effectively.
Dr. Sharath Kumar Rao, Dean KMC Manipal welcomed the gathering.
The organizing Chair, Dr. Kavitha Saravu, Professor and Head, Department of Infectious Diseases gave an overview of the conference. The conference will be held over 5 days featuring 11 speakers deliberating on different aspects of antimicrobial resistance and stewardship.
Other departments who partnered were the Dept. of Emergency Medicine, KMC Manipal, Departments of Medicine and Microbiology from KMC Mangalore, Department of Pharmacy Practice from MCOPS, and Division of Infectious Diseases, Wayne State University, USA.
Dr. Sneha Deepak Mallya, Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, proposed the vote of thanks. Dr. Avinash Shetty, Medical Superintendent, KH Manipal was present.