Antimicrobial Consumption as a Key Component of Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs: a Meaningful Movement toward Evidence-based Antimicrobial Stewardship of Validated Outcome Measures

I had a meaningful opportunity to contribute to an editorial for the latest article on antibiotic usage in hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia.¹ Abuse and overuse of antimicrobials are the main drivers in the development of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens. The clinical and economic implications of antimicrobial resistance pose a major threat to global public health. To alleviate this threat, global, regional, and national strategies have been established all over the world. In line with the global action plan adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2015, the Korean 5-year action plan for containment of antimicrobial resistance has been also in operation since August 2016. This Korean strategy included a 6-pillar national action plan, and one of which was to strengthen the surveillance system for antimicrobial consumption.²