Fighting superbugs and antibiotic resistant microbes will be the focus of a conference set to take place in Bahrain later this month.
The second edition of the International Conference on Antibiotic-Resistant Microbes and Infectious Diseases will be held from September 19 to 22 at the Bahrain Medical Society, in Manama.
Organised by Education Plus, the event will be held in the presence of Supreme Council for Health (SCH) chairman Lieutenant General Dr Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, under the theme ‘Antimicrobial Resistance and Infectious Diseases: A Global Challenge’.
It will act as a platform for healthcare professionals, researchers, policymakers and industry leaders to come together and discuss the latest advancements in the field of infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance.
“We will have the opportunity to hear from leading experts in the field, engage in informative discussions and share knowledge and insight,” the conference’s president and Arabian Gulf University (AGU) associate professor of medicine Dr Jameela Al Salman said in a statement on the conference’s website.
“It will also be a great opportunity to network and collaborate with peers from around the world, with the aim to develop strategies and solutions to address these critical healthcare challenges.
“In Bahrain, we recognise the importance of tackling this challenge and we are committed to working with our partners to find innovative solutions.
“I am confident that this conference will be a productive and enlightening experience for all participants, and I encourage you to take full advantage of the opportunities that this will event will provide.”
The four-day event will include a series of lectures covering a wide range of topics such as fighting AMR in Hospitals, HIV treatment selection for long term success, Pfizer, GSK (Shingrix and HIV), the epidemiology of fungal infections, artificial intelligence and impact on anti-microbial resistance (AMR) and AMS and more.
Some of the speakers include Dr Abinash Virk (the US), Dr Nermin Saeed (Bahrain), Dr Majid Al Shamrani (Saudi Arabia), Dr Nezar Bahabri (Saudi Arabia), Dr Ali Omrani (Qatar), Dr Bradley Langford (Canada), Dr Naheed Seddiq (Bahrain) and Dr Safaa
Alkhawaja (Bahrain), among others.
Alkhawaja (Bahrain), among others.
The GDN previously reported health ministry assistant under-secretary for public health Dr Samia Bahram telling Shura Council members, during a weekly session earlier this year, that combating AMR was a top priority, with strategies underway to stop the insidious spread of drug-resistant superbugs.
Shura members voted unanimously on proposed amendments to the 2018 Public Health Law that would force the
Health Ministry to develop a national plan to tackle the threat.
The proposal was presented by five members led by services committee vice-chairwoman and former Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) infectious and internal diseases consultant Dr Jameela Al Salman.
Global health officials have repeatedly warned about the rise of antimicrobial-resistant microbes due to the misuse and overuse of antibiotics, which encourages micro-organisms to evolve into ‘superbugs’.
The UN health agency had previously declared AMR to be one of the top 10 global threats to human health and said an estimated 1.3 million people die every year directly due to resistant pathogens. Studies have revealed that using or misusing antibiotics, poor infection prevention and control practices, living or working in unclean conditions and mishandling food could increase the risk of spread of antimicrobial-resistant germs.
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