First Swiss monitoring of antimicrobial stewardship
16.06.2025 - Monitoring carried out in 2024 shows that 86% of hospitals have antimicrobial stewardship activities in place. The majority of these hospitals monitor antibiotic use and have evidence-based guidelines for antibiotic treatment or perioperative antibiotic use. Half of the hospitals with stewardship activities report having a formal antimicrobial stewardship program.
Of the 136 Swiss hospitals invited to participate, 69 responded to the survey, representing a response rate of 51%. The 2024 monitoring shows that most hospitals have structures in place for antimicrobial stewardship, such as consultation services for infectious diseases, clinical pharmacy, and microbiology. Hospitals active in the area of antimicrobial stewardship generally monitor antibiotic use and produce an annual report for prescribers. Such hospitals often have evidence-based guidelines for antibiotic treatment or perioperative antibiotic use.
Currently, only half of active hospitals have a formal antimicrobial stewardship program. The long-term goal of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) is for all Swiss acute care hospitals to establish such programs. Further potential for improvement is seen in the areas of education and training, in the implementation of restriction mechanisms for antibiotic prescribing, and in the implementation of audits on antibiotic prescribing.
Hospitals are encouraged to improve the effectiveness of antimicrobial stewardship activities by appointing a stewardship leader and allocating dedicated resources. A handbook on antimicrobial stewardship is available to support staff in the implementation of antimicrobial stewardship activities.
The complete results of the survey will be published in fall 2025.
The monitoring was carried out as part of the StAR-3 project. It serves to document stewardship activities in hospitals and provides a basis for planning by authorities and stakeholders.
“StAR-3 project: Implementing ASP in Swiss Hospitals” is a three-year project that started in September 2023. It is supported by the FOPH as part of the Swiss Strategy on Antibiotic Resistance (StAR). H + Die Spitäler der Schweiz and the Swiss conference of the Cantonal Ministers of Public Health (GDK-CDS) are involved as observers.