Total antimicrobials prescribed by antimicrobial class, WHO Essential Medicines List (EML) classification,^a and age at admission in a birth cohort in Dhaka, Bangladesh (N = 582 antimicrobial prescriptions). ^aWHO EML Classification: antibiotics are classified as ‘access’ if they should be widely available, affordable and quality-assured; ‘watch’ if they have a higher resistance potential and should be used for a specific, limited number of indications or ‘reserve’ if they should be used as a last resort in highly specific patients and settings, to preserve effectiveness. There were 13 prescriptions for unclassified antimicrobials.