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| ASTMH Councilor Abdoulaye Djimde answers the local news media's questions 'ASTMH-West Africa' |
Scientists from West Africa met in Bamako, Mali, on February, 26-27 for the first congress of the African Association for research and control of AntiMicrobial Resistance (AAAMR). “Antimicrobial Resistance: Which challenges for Africa?” offered early career and senior scientists from the continent an opportunity to present their oral talks and posters from the 2017 ASTMH Annual Meeting in Baltimore to their West African peers, and discuss the antimicrobial resistance affecting human as well animal health as a single health issue.
About 150 participants from 14 African countries (Burkina Faso, Cap Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea Conakry, Kenya, Mali, Moroco, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo and Tunisia) took part in the meeting, which was organized by ASTMH Councilor Abdoulaye Djimde, PharmD, PhD. All 29 abstracts presented at the Annual Meeting in Baltimore were presented again in Bamako. The abstracts and posters from TropMed17 were presented during oral talks and delivered either in French or in English, with live translation in French.
Opening Ceremony
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| From left, Philip Rosenthal, Abdoulaye Djimde, Samba Sow and Assetou Foune Samake Migan |
The opening ceremony was co-chaired by the Minister of Higher Education and Research, Prof. Assetou Founé Samake Migan, and the Minister of Health and Public Hygiene, Prof. Samba Sow. They highlighted the importance of research in the context of antimicrobial resistance in Africa and were thankful for the opportunity offered by AAAMR with support from ASTMH, the University of Mali and other partners.
Other notables attending the opening ceremony included Prof. Mireille Dosso, Director of Institut Pasteur, Côte d’Ivoire; Philip Rosenthal, MD, FASTMH, Editor-in-Chief of the
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (AJTMH); Prof. Adama Diaman Keita, the Rector of the University of Science, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako (USTTB), Mali; Prof. Ogobara Doumbo, Director de Malaria Research and Training Center (MRTC), Mali; Prof. Coumba Kane Touré of the High Polytechnic School at Dakar University, Senegal; Prof. Seydou Doumbia, Dean of the Faculty of the School of Medicine (USTTB), Mali; and Prof. Boubacar Traore Dean of the School of Pharmacy (USTTB), Mali.
The opening ceremony concluded with the award of the MERIEUX Young Scientist to Dr. Djeneba Fofana of Mali.
Presentations
A total of 77 oral communications and 40 posters were presented during the three-day congress in various microbial areas: bacterio-virology, parasitology-mycology and animal health. The main topics presented focused on:
- Methods of identification of parasites, bacteria, virus
- Efficacy of antibiotics, antivirus, antimalarials drugs
- The issue of antimicrobial resistance
- And other subjects, including entomology, pharmacogenomics and mathematic models
Additionally, four keynote speakers addressed the congress on the following topics:
- Prof. Mireille Dosso – “Antimicrobial resistance : challenge for Sub-Saharan Africa”
- Prof. Ogobara Doumbo – “Overview of AMR in parasites”
- Prof. Coumba Kane TOURE – "Review of virus resistance: stop the resistance" – Challenge for elimination of HIV/AIDS by 2030
- Prof. Philp Rosenthal – “Antimalarial drug resistance in Africa”
- Prof. Satigui Sidibé – "Antimicrobial resistance in animal health and environnment : Problematic and impact on human health"
Prof. Rosenthal also gave a talk about the
Journal and the Society, which elicited a number of questions from the audience. Many expressed their wish to join the Society but said they had practical difficulties.
Closing Ceremony
The congress closed February 28 with the following recommendations:
- To Stakeholders, it recommended to strengthen the follow-up of the antimicrobial resistance and laboratory capacity in Africa and improve storage of biological pathogen.
- To health professional workers, a rational prescription of antimicrobial drugs.
- To scientists, continue working on the understanding of the antimicrobial resistance mechanism and share the data with stakeholder for an appropriate used of the antimicrobial drug.
- To AAAMR, develop a regional course in collaboration with Institut Pasteur de Côte d'Ivoire and improve the network website with specific information from the laboratory part of the network.
The congress also presented awards for the Best Poster in Parasitology/Mycology and the Best Poster in Bacteriology/Virology.