GANDHINAGAR— Mental well-being and physical health must receive equal attention amid the pressures of modern lifestyles and the continuing threat of infectious diseases, Gujarat Health Minister Praful Pansheriya said on Saturday, calling for greater awareness about depression and mental stress.
Pansheriya was speaking after inaugurating the 16th annual conference of the Clinical Infectious Diseases Society (CIDS) at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar. The conference, CIDSCON 2026, is being held on the theme “Addressing AMR: From Awareness to Action.”
The Minister said the experience of global health crises such as Covid-19 had highlighted the importance of protecting not only physical health but also mental resilience.
“There is a need to create greater awareness about serious issues such as depression and mental stress and to address them appropriately,” he said, stressing that maintaining mental well-being had become increasingly important in the present circumstances.
Pansheriya also expressed concern over the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, particularly the prescription of high-dose or stronger antibiotics for minor and common illnesses at small clinics.
“Such practices could become a major public health threat in the future,” he said.
He announced that the state government would soon organise a statewide awareness programme involving doctors from different systems of medicine, including allopathic, Ayurvedic and homoeopathic practitioners, to address inappropriate antibiotic use.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat programme, Pansheriya said self-medication without medical advice was reducing the effectiveness of antibiotics, even in common infections such as pneumonia and urinary tract infections.
He urged doctors to educate patients about the importance of completing prescribed antibiotic courses rather than stopping treatment midway.
“The fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) could not be left to the Health Department alone and required the collective responsibility of doctors, hospitals, pharmacists and citizens,” he said.
Pansheriya called for stronger antimicrobial stewardship programmes and infection-control systems in hospitals.
He said Gujarat was also strengthening early-warning surveillance and laboratory-based monitoring through digital platforms such as the Gujarat State AMR Surveillance Network and the AMR Dashboard, aimed at helping authorities identify and control diseases at an early stage.
The Minister said doctors attending CIDSCON 2026 would be able to use new knowledge and research emerging from the conference to provide more effective treatment to patients in their respective fields. He also congratulated the organisers for convening the conference.
CIDS President Dr Subramanian Swaminathan highlighted the importance of specialised expertise in treating complex infectious diseases, citing the case of an 11-year-old patient who had suffered from a severe, drug-resistant infection for nearly 11 years and had received treatment at several centres without success.
According to Swaminathan, the CIDS team took up the case, with a clinical pharmacologist developing a specialised treatment approach. The child subsequently made a complete recovery.
“The patient returned to meet us with a smile after making a complete recovery. This demonstrates that when it comes to drug resistance and complex diseases, our specialised expertise can bring about a major positive change in the lives of ordinary citizens,” he said.
Swaminathan said CIDS had benefited from the contributions of senior mentors who had provided their time and guidance over the past two decades.
“The younger generation of doctors had the advantage of learning from these experienced specialists, and the importance of collaboration among microbiologists, pharmacists, nurses, public health professionals and administrators is a must,” he said.
Organising Chairman Dr Atul Patel said infectious diseases were continually evolving and creating new challenges for the medical community.
With human, animal and environmental health closely interconnected, he said the One Health approach had become indispensable.
Patel said AMR was no longer a hypothetical threat but a reality encountered in everyday clinical practice. He warned that advances in modern medicine, including complex surgeries and cancer immunotherapy, could be jeopardised by the failure of antibiotics.
Doctors needed to ensure accurate diagnosis before prescribing antibiotics, strengthen microbiology services, select the appropriate medicine at the correct dosage and for the right duration, and place greater emphasis on infection prevention, he said.
During the inaugural programme, Pansheriya and other officials also released the book Antimicrobial Stewardship Program.
CIDS Secretary Dr Neha Gupta, Treasurer Dr Kavitha, Scientific Chairperson Dr Tanu Singhal, Co-organising Chairman Dr Harsh Toshniwal and other officials and organisers attended the event.
Infectious disease specialists, researchers, microbiologists and physicians from across India, as well as countries including the United States and Singapore, are participating in the conference.
