Antimicrobial resistance is a global concern threatening patient safety directly, and through secondary impact on patients undergoing chemotherapy, surgery, transplantation and other areas of care reliant upon effective anti-infective therapy. To address antimicrobial resistance, ongoing programmes of activity in human and animal health, and in environmental care, are being enacted.

In medicine, antimicrobial stewardship focuses on optimization of antimicrobial prescribing to improve patient outcomes, while minimizing the development of antimicrobial resistance for patients and wider society. The context, strategies and delivery of antimicrobial stewardship vary markedly between countries and health-care providers, but central to all antimicrobial stewardship programmes is the overarching goal of ensuring that patients who require an antimicrobial receive the right agent, at the right dose, at the right time, for the right duration. Inherent in this is the need to ensure that patients who do not require an antimicrobial do not receive one inappropriately.