From May 20 to 23, 2026, an international scientific conference entitled “Surveying and Combating Antimicrobial Resistance in the Highly Endemic East and South Europe and Mediterranean Basin” was held in Athens, Greece, bringing together leading experts in clinical microbiology, infectious diseases, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The conference was organized by the ESGARS (Study Group for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance) working group of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in collaboration with the Hellenic Society for Clinical Microbiology.
The central theme of the forum was antimicrobial resistance, one of the most critical threats to modern healthcare. Participants discussed current epidemiological surveillance data, contemporary strategies to contain the spread of resistant bacterial pathogens, and prospects for international scientific collaboration in regions with a high burden of AMR.
The conference was attended by representatives of the Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases of Astana Medical University — Associate Professor, PhD Bayan Turaldina and second-year doctoral student Gulzhan Yessimkhanova.
Within the scientific program, an oral presentation was delivered focusing on preliminary findings of a study investigating antimicrobial resistance among bacterial pathogens causing acute intestinal infections in children. The study is being conducted within the framework of a grant-funded project supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The presentation by the Kazakhstani researchers attracted considerable interest from the international expert community and contributed to professional discussions on the need to strengthen research efforts and develop effective strategies to combat antimicrobial resistance.
Participation in the conference not only enabled the presentation of national research at the international level but also facilitated the establishment of new scientific collaborations with researchers from France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Türkiye, and Slovenia.
As part of the visit, the university representatives also visited the General Hospital of Athens Evangelismos, one of the largest public multidisciplinary hospitals in Greece. The visit was organized at the invitation of the Head of the Microbiology Laboratory, Athina Argyropoulou.
During the visit, the representatives of Astana Medical University became acquainted with the organization of clinical diagnostic and microbiological laboratories, modern laboratory diagnostic methods, approaches to process standardization, and practices for rapid clinical support of patients under conditions of high clinical workload.
The conference organizers emphasized that ESGARS is becoming an important international platform for uniting scientists and practitioners in the fight against antimicrobial resistance, and that the development of such scientific initiatives opens new opportunities for collaborative research and the implementation of effective solutions in healthcare systems.
