July 08, 2011
With the early registration deadline (July 15th) for the 1st Global Forum on Bacterial Infections exactly one week away, it seems like an ideal time to check in about what s in store for the delegates who will gather in New Delhi 3-5 October 2011.
The 1st Global Forum on Bacterial Infections: Balancing Treatment Access and Antibiotic Resistance is indeed a first. It s the inaugural Global Forum for CDDEP and our collaborators (the Public Health Foundation of India, the international network ReAct – Action on Antibiotic Resistance at Uppsala University, and the International Society of Chemotherapy). But it’s also the first international meeting on bacterial infections to be held in a developing country.
Here s what participants can expect:
A Meeting on Antibiotic Resistance That Also Focuses on Expanding Antibiotic Access
There is a paradox at the heart of regulating antibiotics in low-resource settings. As much as we find examples of antibiotic misuse and overuse, we also find its converse: antibiotic underuse. This phenomenon is discussed in our Kenya Situation Analysis report, as well as on this blog. Policy makers, then, must keep dual goals in mind: reducing antibiotic resistance while also expanding access to lifesaving antibiotic treatments to those not currently reached. The goal is optimizing antibiotic use to reduce the overall burden of bacterial infections, so Global Forum sessions will not only examine the emergence of new resistance mechanisms, but interventions to expand treatment access as well.
Integrating Research Findings with an Eye towards Policy Solutions
The 1st Global Forum is designed to be an interdisciplinary conference, and sessions will range from small microbiology workshops to panels on drafting guidelines for pneumonia treatment, creating antibiotic stewardship programs within hospitals, and building national AMR coalitions. Delegates at the Global Forum will come from a number of backgrounds healthcare professionals, policy makers and scientists to share research findings and common challenges. Additionally, we re asking session chairs to pay special attention to integrating common research threads by leading post-session poster walks to highlight poster presentations.
An International Delegation with an Emphasis on Sponsoring Participants from Low- and Middle-Income Countries
We expect to welcome over 600 international delegates to the Global Forum, most from developing countries. Participants from low- and middle-income countries are eligible to apply for travel awards to defray the costs of conference attendance. Confirmed speakers, too, represent this international focus. Speakers include Dr Anita K.M. Zaidi (Aga Khan University, Karachi), Dr Suniti Solomon (Y.R. Gaitonde Center for AIDS Research and Education, Chennai), Dr David L Heymann (Health Protection Agency, London), and Dr Otto Cars (Uppsala University, Uppsala), among many others. Ministers of Health from various countries are also expected to be in attendance.
To register and to stay up-to-date about speakers, details of the program, and conference announcements, check out the Global Forum website. And if you can t attend the meeting, we’ll be covering all Global Forum news and updates here, on this blog.
Visit the website for the 1st Global Forum on Bacterial Infections: Balancing Treatment Access and Antibiotic Resistance.
