“Is There a Future for Antibiotics? Can We Halt Pandemics? Are Infections Unstoppable? Why Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs) and Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) are more profound and devastating in regions with resource limitations? What tailored policies, practices and interventions can be deployed to safeguard the Global South where majority population inhabits?

These are some of the questions to be addressed during forthcoming “Global South Conference on Infection Prevention Control and Antimicrobial Stewardship (G-SPARC 2024) which is scheduled to take place from the 3rd to the 5th of October, 2024, in Hyderabad, India.

The Pragyaan Sustainable Health Outcomes Foundation (PRASHO), in collaboration with the Infection Control Academy of India (IFCAI) and the University of Hyderabad (UoH), is taking a seminal  and much needed initiative  forward to address the pressing issues of Infection Prevention & Control (IPC), Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs), and Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR).

The Global South Conference on Infection Prevention Control and Antimicrobial Stewardship (GSPARC) is scheduled to take place from the 3rd to the 5th of October, 2024, in Hyderabad, India. The Vice Chancellor of the UoH, Prof B.J. Rao, the Dean, School of Medical Sciences and Director, Institute of Eminence, UoH have agreed to be patrons for this international conference.

The announcement  was made in a stakeholders consultative meeting by more than 40 global, local, academic, and professional associations who came together to address global public health challenges related to infections for the benefit of all concerned stakeholders and wider audience. The stakeholder consultative meeting was Chaired by Sri R Govind Hari, Chairman of PRASHO, Prof Ranga Reddy Burri, Chairman of G-SPARC 2024 & President IFCAI, and Prof B. R. Shamanna from UoH. The GSPARC Stakeholders meeting was held on the 19th of April at the PRASHO Foundation office, located in the WTC building, Kapil Kavuri Hub  in Hyderabad.

Continuing the  policy initiatives announced during the G20 presidency of India, it was conveyed that there is an universal need to “strengthening global health and implementing one health approach” and leverage the Delhi declaration which pledged to “Implement and prioritise tackling Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) following the One Health approach, including through research and development, infection prevention and control, as well as antimicrobial stewardship efforts within respective national action plans through AMR and antimicrobial consumption surveillance”. G-SPARC stakeholders have taken the responsibility and resolved to support the respective Global South countries in this initaive.

GSPARC-2024 aims to be a collaborative effort between healthcare providers, health administrators, government organizations, patrons, strategic partners/professional associations, academic support organizations, government/multi-lateral organizations, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and industrial partners.

The conference is targeted to bring in a Global South consensus on key topics such as IPC, AMR, HAIs, etc., across all these countries with required contextual customisation approaches. to address these public health priorities with sustainable outcomes.

Representatives from all major global and national bodies including professional bodies, and many reputed medical institutions/universities have attended the stakeholders meeting. Addressing the Challenges with a theme to “Unify Global South to fight infections and stop pandemics” will be the theme of the G-SPARC 2024 conference.

The challenges of antibiotic usage, lack of clear data on infection control practices in the Global South, creating a consensus on dealing with AMR, HAIs, IPC in a customized approach are going to be a few of the many topics that are going to be discussed in the G-SPARC-2024 conference. It was expected that participants from over 4 continents and over 50 countries are expected to take part in the event, including Asia, Africa, GCC, South America.

All partners have declared unanimous support for the initiative to tackle key challenges across India and the entire Global South.

For further information, please reach out at: Conference website: https://www.g-sparc.com/