Three members of the SIAPS team presented at the 2015 Global Health Mini-University, held on Monday, March 2, at the George Washington University’s Cloyd Heck Marvin Center in Washington, DC.
SIAPS Technical Associate Shirin Kakayeva presented on multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in Central Asia, highlighting the high MDR-TB burden in Tajikistan (13%) and Uzbekistan (23%) in particular. Kakayeva discussed the factors contributing to the high MDR-TB rates, including irrational use of medicines and inadequate pharmaceutical supply chain planning, as well as current efforts by international stakeholders to address the problem.
SIAPS Principal Technical Advisor and Cluster Lead for Pharmaceutical Services Mohan Joshi and SIAPS Technical Advisor Malaika Ludman shed light on the increasingly urgent problem of antimicrobial resistance around the globe. While antimicrobials have made previously life-threatening infections easily treatable, the overuse and improper use of these “miracle drugs” has contributed to the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Joshi and Ludman discussed the causes of antimicrobial resistance, as well as antimicrobial stewardship efforts and other strategies to tackle the problem.
To find out more about the Global Health Mini-University, go to the website or visit @GHMiniU on Twitter.
