The activities of the 29th International Conference of the Egyptian Society for Infection Control were launched this morning, under the title “Imported Infections: Concern and Inconvenience,” in cooperation with the Arab Institute for Sustainable Professional Development, “Approved,” with the participation of the World Health Organization and under the auspices of the Arab Medical Union.
The conference began with a welcome speech by Professor Dr. Osama Raslan, Secretary General of the Arab Doctors Union, and Professor Dr. Maha Fathi, Secretary General of the Egyptian Society for Infection Control.
The first session also witnessed a speech by Dr. Omar Abu Al-Atta, representative of the World Health Organization, and Dr. Ahmed Abdel Latif, representative of the Arab Association for Patient Safety and former representative of the World Health Organization office in Cairo.
Experts from the World Health Organization in Geneva, as well as experts from the Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean of the World Health Organization and an elite group of specialists in the field of infection control, will participate in the conference activities.
This year, while the world is still under the weight of one of these types of imported infections, which is Covid-19, the conference comes to discuss the challenges and difficulties that society and health systems face from the weight of imported infections in general.
The conference discusses many topics that concern society, such as the issue of various vaccinations, their effectiveness, and their side effects. It also discusses the psychological effects of Covid-19 infection on patients who have been infected, as well as on health service providers who were in the first line of defense to confront this pandemic.
The conference addresses many other important topics, most notably: The impact of the pandemic on infection surveillance systems as well as on scientific research in various fields.
It also examines one of the major problems that threaten humanity, namely antibiotic-resistant strains of microbes and the impact of viruses and other imported infections on the overuse of antibiotics.
Another important topic addressed by the conference is the need to adopt new concepts and standards for dealing with imported infections, and to be well prepared when any pandemic occurs in the future so that imported infections do not cause any anxiety or inconvenience at the community level and within health systems, especially with regard to infection prevention and control programmes .
It is worth noting that this conference coincides with the World Health Organization’s celebrations of World Infection Control Week, which is celebrated during the month of October every year.