Antibiotic Stewardship Initiatives as Part of the UK 5-Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy.

Antibiotic use is a major driver for the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance. Antimicrobial stewardship programmes aim to improve antibiotic prescribing with the objectives of optimizing clinical outcomes while at the same time minimizing unintended consequences such as adverse effects and the selection of antibiotic resistance. In 2013, a five-year national strategy for tackling antimicrobial resistance was published in the UK. The overarching goal of the strategy is to slow the development and spread of resistance and to this end it has three strategic aims, namely to improve knowledge and understanding of resistance, to conserve and steward the effectiveness of existing treatments and to stimulate the development of new antibiotics, diagnostics and novel therapies. This article reviews the antimicrobial stewardship activities included in the strategy and describes their implementation and evaluation.