Meet to be held on combating anti-microbial resistance

Hyderabad: A Global South Conference on Infection Prevention, Control, and Antimicrobial Stewardship (G-SPARC 2024) will be held in the city from October 3 to 5 this year.

In a strong show of support, Health Minister C Damodar Rajanarsimha issued an endorsement letter for the upcoming conference on Monday. The G-SPARC 2024 organising team, led by conference chair Dr Ranga Reddy Burri and co-chair Govind Hari, met with the Health Minister. During the meeting, they extended an invitation to the minister to deliver a keynote address.

In his letter, Rajanarsimha emphasised the timeliness and significance of G-SPARC 2024 as a convergence of minds committed to addressing the pressing challenges posed by pandemics, infections, and Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR).

He underscored the stark reality of bacterial AMR, which was directly responsible for 1.27 million global deaths in 2019, and its far-reaching impact on healthcare systems and modern medicine. Minister Rajanarsimha called for urgent action to prevent these avoidable deaths, urging stakeholders to delve into the heart of these issues during the three-day deliberations at G-SPARC 2024. He has invited healthcare workers, the tireless front-line warriors, to seize this opportunity to deliberate, innovate, and collaborate to improve practices, prevent pandemics, curb infections, and stem the rising tide of AMR.

As the Minister wishes the event resounding success and expresses his hope that the collective efforts will pave the way for a healthier, more resilient world, the G-SPARC 2024 organising committee has thanked the Minister’s endorsement and is looking forward to working closely with the Telangana government to make the conference a landmark event in the fight against AMR and infections in the global south.