Mysuru: On the occasion of ‘Antibiotic Awareness Week’, the Department of Pharmacy Practice, JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research (JSS AHER), Mysuru in association with Karnataka State Pharmacy Council, conducted ‘Antibiotic Stewardship Programme for Practicing Community Pharmacists’ recently at JSS College of Pharmacy (JSSCP) in Sri Shivarathreeshwara Nagar, Mysuru.

The programme was inaugurated by Dr. Surinder Singh, Vice-Chancellor, JSS AHER and Dr. Sunitha Chandrashekar Srinivas, Visiting Professor, Rhodes University, South Africa, in the presence of Dr. M.N. Sumana, Professor and Head, Department of Microbiology, JSS Medical College and Hospital, Dr. M.M. Sumanth, Faculty, Mysore Medical College,  Dr. D.A. Gundu Rao, Vice-President, Karnataka State Pharmacy Council (KSPC), Bengaluru and Samson, Dy. Registrar, KSPC, Bengaluru.

 The programme had two panel discussions. The first was on the need for antimicrobial stewardship. The objective of this discussion was to motivate and also inform to the practicing pharmacist about the knowledge and skills required to adopt the antimicrobial policy guidelines for rational use of antibiotics to curb antibiotic resistance. The session was moderated by Shilpa Palaksha, Assistant Professor, JSSCP. 

The second panel discussion was on antimicrobial resistance and the role of community pharmacist in combating antibiotic resistance moderated by Sunitha Srinivas, Technical Coordinator, antimicrobial stewardship program, KSPC, Bengaluru.

Both the sessions were chaired by a Microbiologist, Clinical Practitioner, Pharmacists, Researcher and Policy-maker. A total of 35 practicing hospital and community pharmacists from various parts of Mysuru district attended this event.

Certificate of participation was distributed to all participants. Feedback from the participants was also collected at the end of the session. Participants provided a positive feedback on the programme.