Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) is a coherent set of actions that promote the optimal use of antimicrobials in a way that ensures sustainable access to effective therapy for all in need.¹ ASPs aim to improve patient outcomes and safety and address inappropriate use of antimicrobials. Core elements identified in successful ASPs include leadership commitment, prescriber accountability, drug expertise, and education of clinicians and patients, among others.² The general framework of an ASP has ideally three components:¹

• There are system prerequisites that must be met before implementation (e.g. presence of guidelines, AMS team, adequate diagnostic, human and IT resources)
• What the AMS team wants to improve must be clearly defined (recommendations on appropriate use at the patient level, i.e. duration of treatment compliant with guidelines)
• How the AMS team will achieve these goals must be planned, i.e. the improvement strategies that will be chosen and tailored based on the identified determinants and problems and performed by the team at the professional or institutional level