The Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences (FNHS) at Notre Dame University –Shouf Campus (NDU-SC) organized on Tuesday, December 6, 2016 at noon, a lecture entitled “Antimicrobial Resistance: A Major Threat to Public Health.” The lecture was delivered by Dr. Tarek Bou Assi, laboratory director at the Psychiatric Hospital of the Cross and Saint Joseph Hospital- Dora.
Dr. Lara Youssef, coordinator of FNHS at NDU-SC, served as the moderator of the seminar. She welcomed the guest speaker and thanked the Director of NDU-SC, Father Hanna Tayar, for supporting and encouraging rewarding academic initiatives that serve both NDU and the entire Lebanese community.
Dr. Bou Assi began his lecture by discussing the nature of the antibiotics, types, discovery and resistance. He noted that the number of newly developed and approved antibiotics has steadily decreased in the past three decades, leaving fewer options to treat bacteria. Dr. Bou Assi went on to explain why Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is important and recognized as an emerging public health problem. The various serious implications of the AMR include the longer duration of the illness and treatment which result in high mortality and morbidity associated with economic loss to the patients and community. Infections with micro-organism resistance to conventional antibiotic have to be treated with expensive nucleus drug which may be more toxic. All these bacteria produce extra burden on the health system and also increase the possibility of communication of resistance organisms to the community.
He detailed that misuse and overuse of antibiotics are the main causes of AMR and pointed out how antibiotic resistance can be prevented. “In a health-care facility, the sources of infection, and of the preceding contamination, may be the personnel, the patients, or the inanimate environment” Dr. Bou Assi declared. He concluded that Antibiotics are a precious resource and that we need to preserve by working together.
The attendees included staff and students who asked questions at the end of the lecture. This gave way to interesting interaction between the attendees and the speaker. A certificate of appreciation was offered to Dr. Bou Assi as a sign of gratitude for sharing his valuable time and knowledge with the Shouf Campus community.