Antibiotics are often prescribed, dispensed or used unnecessarily or too broadly
#00366
Patients receive antibiotics when not needed, or receive unnecessarily broad, long, or poorly selected treatment, increasing avoidable selection pressure and adverse effects.
#00376Use delayed antibiotic prescriptions for appropriate low-risk infections
Give selected low-risk patients a prescription to use only if symptoms persist or worsen, with clear safety-net instructions and rapid reassessment routes.
#00374Use WHO AWaRe targets in treatment guidance, formularies and procurement
Align treatment guidance, essential-medicine lists and purchasing with WHO Access, Watch and Reserve categories so first-line Access antibiotics are available and higher-risk products are controlled.
#00373Establish antimicrobial stewardship teams with prescribing audit and feedback
Create multidisciplinary stewardship teams that issue local treatment guidance, review prescribing, feed results back to clinicians and safely narrow or stop unnecessary antibiotics.
#00375Combine rapid diagnostics with prescribing decision support
Integrate rapid pathogen or biomarker tests with clinical guidance, training and stewardship follow-up so results change antibiotic selection rather than merely add information.