Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA), the UAE’s largest healthcare network, participated in the World Sepsis Congress Spotlight 2020. The event, co-organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Sepsis Alliance (GSA), was held virtually in Berlin, Germany. This year’s theme focused on ‘Sepsis, Pandemics, and Antimicrobial Resistance – Global Health Threats of the 21st Century’, shedding light on challenges and lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic. The event united the world’s most prominent healthcare professionals who shared their insights during six different sessions.
The event coincided with World Sepsis Day, which is a global initiative by GSA to emphasize the threat of Sepsis as a public health risk, explain its impact on patient mortality rates, and advocacy of strong measures to combat the condition globally. Sepsis results from the dysregulated immune system response to infections, which leads to organ failure and death. Each year sepsis affects close to 50 million people of which more than 40% are children under the age of 5 years old.
As part of the fourth session titled‘Sepsis, Ebola, and COVID-19’, Dr. Hala AbuZeid,Chair of the Critical Care Department, Tawam Hospital, a SEHA healthcare facility,discussed special considerations for managing sepsis in COVID-19 patients. The session was chaired by Dr. Emmanuel Nsutebu, Chief of Infectious Diseases at Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City, a SEHA facility in partnership with Mayo Clinic, and Chair of African Sepsis Alliance.
Dr. AbuZeid commented on SEHA’s participation in the event, saying, “Sepsis is a dangerous threat to our communities, and its threat has now increased as we are in the midst of an ongoing battle against a global pandemic. COVID-19takes a toll on the human body, sometimes affecting the entire body and its functions. According to studies by the WHO, there is concrete evidence linkingCOVID-19 as a cause for Sepsis and therefore adding an additional burden to our healthcare providers.”
Dr.Nsutebushared his insights on SEHA’s response to Sepsis during the pandemic, commenting, “At SEHA,we remain committed to the delivery of worldclass health care services.Through the excellent COVID-19 response of the UAE government, and their support of our healthcare facilities, the number of deaths and critical patients has remained relatively low and this is a testament to a much brighter future ahead. I would like to thank WHO and GSA who have brought a very important health issue to light, and their joint efforts in protecting all communities worldwide.”
To watch the recording of the session, please visit any of the following links:
Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/1stWorldSepsisCongress
Apple Podcasts on the App Store:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/2020-wsc-spotlight-sepsis-pandemics-antimicrobial-resistance/id1155062518?app=podcast&mt=2
