The Korean Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases (KSPID) and the Asia-Pacific Foundation for Infectious Diseases_{아시아 탸평양 감염재단} will kick off “ISAAR & ICIC 2017” Thursday for a three-day run at Busan BEXCO Convention Hall, organizers said Tuesday.

The 11th International Symposium on Antimicrobial Agents and Resistance (ISAAR), held every two years since 1997 by the Asia Pacific Infection Foundation, and the 3rd International Inter-science Conference on Infection and Chemotherapy (ICIC), held by KSPID_{대한소아감염학회}, have organized a joint meeting for the first time.

The joint event will discuss the theme of "Combating antimicrobial resistance and emerging infectious diseases: Today and tomorrow," they said.

In addition to the current status and problems of antibiotic resistance, the participants will deal with the development of next-generation antibiotics and vaccines, latest diagnostic methods, and the management of infectious diseases.

About 1,500 experts in infectious diseases, microbiology, disease epidemiology, immunology and pharmacology, medical professionals, health policy experts, researchers from pharmaceutical companies from 35 countries around the world are expected to attend.

Recently, the emergence of new types of infectious diseases such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and the Zika virus has made it more important than ever to respond to infectious diseases and maintain interests in them.

Especially, the problem of antibiotics resistance, which is seriously threatening the public health all over the world and emerging as a core issue of global health security, is demanding a global response, the organizers said.

Since pathogens causing new infectious disease and antibiotic resistance problems can spread across countries, international cooperation is essential to control and prevent these new infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance problems, they added.