From left, back: Professor Lars Småbrekke, Professor Wim Sturm, Professor Arnfinn Sundsfjord and Professor Gunnar Simonsen; and (front) Mr Lourenco Marcos Chirindze, Ms Calvina Estavela and Ms Sara Lino Faife, Professor Sabiha Essack and Dr Tomas Zimba. Antibiotic Stewardship and Conservation Project Produces First Three Masters Graduates
UKZN’s College of Health Sciences’ Antibiotic Stewardship and Conservation Project has produced its first Masters graduates.
The three candidates - Mr Lourenco Chirindze, Ms Calvina Estavela and Sara Lino Faife - were capped at UKZN’s 2017 Graduation ceremonies.
The five-year project funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) seeks to strengthen health and Higher Education systems in the lower and middle income countries (LMICs) of Malawi and Mozambique with South Africa serving as the south partner and Norway the north partner.
‘The project has three phases,’ said the Principal Investigator (PI), UKZN’s Professor Sabiha Essack who is the South African Chair in Antibiotic Resistance and One Health.
‘Phase one involves a situational analysis on antibiotic resistance and One Health. The analysis informs the curriculum for the online Masters in Antibiotic Stewardship which will develop human capacity in the optimal management of infections in Mozambique and Malawi in the context of antibiotic resistance and antibiotic stewardship,’ said Essack.
She said Antibiotic resistance was a global public health concern with substantial heath, economic and social consequences.
‘It results from selection pressure because of the indiscriminate use of antibiotics in humans and food animals,’ said Essack.
The first three graduates in the programme conducted their research under the supervision of Essack, Dr Tomas Zimba, Professor Arnfinn Sundsfjord and Professor Gunnar Simonsen:
• Chirindze investigated Faecal Carriage of Extended-Spectrum ß-Lactamase-Producing E.coli and Klebsiella spp. in Mozambican University Students
• Estavela examined Extended-Spectrum ß-Lactamase and Plasmid-Mediated AmpC Resistance in Clinical Isolates of E. coli at the Central Hospital of Maputo
• Lino Faife delineated Resistance to ß-Lactam and Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics in Enterobacteriaceae from Chicken Reared in Brazil, Mozambique and South Africa
The Graduation ceremony was preceded by a symposium at which Sundsfjord – the Norwegian Principal Investigator - presented a keynote address on Challenges and Solutions to Antimicrobial Resistance.
The events were attended by representatives from NORAD, the University of Tromsø in Norway, the University of Malawi and the Instituto Superior de Ciências de Saúde in Mozambique.