The month before, in May 2021, the WHO’s Europe region published Antimicrobial stewardship interventions: a practical guide (2021) describing 10 commonly used interventions. Recommended interventions include:18,19 

• Cumulative antibiograms – to test and record changes in bacterial sensitivity to antibiotics at local and regional/national levels.
• De-labelling of spurious antibiotic allergies – to give prescribers a better choice by checking if a patient really does have a clinically significant allergy to an antibiotic, including by taking a thorough history and skin sensitivity testing if appropriate.
• Self-directed antibiotic reassessments by prescribing clinicians (antibiotic timeouts) – to get the prescriber to reassess an antibiotic prescription as more information emerges (eg the bacteria is identified or patient response is noted).
• Dose optimisation – to make sure the strength, dosage, frequency, or route is right for the individual patient characteristics such as age, weight or renal function.
• Antibiotic duration – to ensure the course of treatment is sufficiently long but not overlong by considering aspects such as diagnosis, severity and location, microbiological data, patient response and the care setting.