Overview: The Public health surveillance and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) Education workshop for research students designed for education, effective awareness and intervention strategies through engaging learning models, expert talks, interactive games, breakout sessions and detailed understanding of the collaborative approaches by scientists, clinicians, community members, public health authorities and government bodies. The one-day program covered concepts of pathogens, community-level pathogen surveillance and novel technologies, infection prevention and control, AMR stewardship and antibiotic policy programs, public health actionable programs, AMR surveillance, AMR mitigation and safe practices. The program is organized by the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Tata Institutive for Genetics and Society (TIGS), under the aegis of the Alliance for Pathogens Surveillance Innovation (APSI)-supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, along with APSI’s outreach partner, Superheroes against superbugs (SaS).
Infectious diseases caused by pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2, Influenza viruses, Respiratory syncytial virus, dengue and chikungunya etc. and untreatable infections due to AMR and the rapidly evolving variants pose a huge threat to public health. The Rockefeller Foundation-supported Alliance for pathogen surveillance innovations (RF-APSI) is a pan-India multistakeholder consortium, engaged in research and developing low-priced indigenized, robust pathogen surveillance kits as well as outreach through community engagement, education and public health advocacy. The recent Covid-19 pandemic caused millions of deaths, long-covid symptoms, adversely affecting the healthcare system. Every year, most of India’s population suffers from diseases such as respiratory illnesses, dengue, chikungunya, and AMR- inappropriate use of antibiotics and resistance due to their easy availability and misinformed consumption, often culminating in severe symptoms and deaths. There is, therefore, an urgent need for our scientists, doctors, citizens and government to come together and tackle the threats, for better disease preparedness and preempt the public health system to avoid future pandemics.
For researchers and college students: Life Science/ Microbiology/ Infectious diseases/ Public health and other science-fields to register.
Details:
The one-day program was attended by 70 research students, postdocs, young faculties and masters students specializing in Life Sciences. Through the interactive modules, concepts of pathogens, community-level pathogen surveillance and novel technologies, infection prevention and control, AMR stewardship and antibiotic policy programs, public health actionable programs, AMR surveillance, AMR mitigation and safe practices were covered. The program was organized by the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Tata Institutive for Genetics and Society (TIGS), under the aegis of the Alliance for Pathogens Surveillance Innovation (APSI)-supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, along with APSI’s outreach partner, Superheroes against superbugs (SaS).
Dr. Sufia Sadaf set the context and gave an overview of the ongoing work under the APSI program and the relevance of the workshop for non-medical researchers-to understand in detail the working of AMR and safe practices to mitigate the rising threat, novel surveillance technologies and role of community. Dr. Shivranjani Moharir spoke about the role of wastewater surveillance for pathogens and AMR traits at community level, followed by Dr. Mansi Malik who spoke about clinical surveillance and vector-borne infections and disease monitoring. Dr. Sathya Srinivasachari spoke about the SaS and its ongoing ventures. Clinicians Dr. Anitha and Dr. Kavitha spoke about AMR stewardship, safe antimicrobial practice, education and awareness for patients and grassroot levels. The day’s workshop included educational activities, quiz, taboo etc to make the learning interactive and fun.
Program agenda:
10 AM to 11:30AM: Session 1
– Introduction and welcome remarks, context setting
– Expert talk: Public health surveillance: approaches and strategies, Dr. Shivranjani Moharir, TIGS
– Activity and engagement: Taboo
Tea Break 11:30 AM - 11:50 AM
11:50AM to 1:30 PM: Session 2
– Expert talk: Infection prevention and control, antibiotic policies (clinician Dr. Anitha/ Dr. Kavita)
– Expert talk: Clinical surveillance and vector-surveillance for pathogens, Dr. Mansi Malik, TIGS
Lunch 1:30 - 2:15 PM
2:15 PM to 4 PM: Session 3
– Expert talk: Topic----Dr. Anitha/ Dr. Kavita
– Quiz and Kahoot
Tea Break 4 PM to 4:30 PM
4:30PM to 5PM: Program wrap-up
– Group Pictionary and impromptu science theater: Public health surveillance and AMR, concepts re-visited
– Felicitation, prizes and certificate distribution
Program coordinators:
Dr. Sufia Sadaf, Ph.D. (Program Manager, RF-APSI Outreach, NCBS-TIFR)
Dr. Sathya Srinivasachari, Ph.D. (Consultant, NCBS; Project Associate-SaS and AMR Workshop lead)
Dr. Krithi Nandimath, Ph.D. (Science Education Officer, NCBS-TIFR)
Outreach Leads: Dr. Sufia Sadaf and Sathya Srinivasachari
Written by :-
Dr. Sufia Sadaf,
Program Manager,
The Rockefeller Foundation-Alliance for Pathogen Surveillance Innovations (RF-APSI)
NCBS-TIFR
Bangalore