The World Health Organization is focusing global attention on the issue of patient safety and launching a campaign in solidarity with patients on the very first World Patient Safety Day on September17. Millions of patients are harmed each year due to unsafe healthcare worldwide resulting in 2.6 million deaths annually in low-and middle-income countries alone, says WHO, noting that most of these deaths are avoidable. The personal, social and economic impact of patient harm leads to losses of trillions of U.S. dollars worldwide.
“No one should be harmed while receiving healthcare. And yet globally, at least five patients die every minute because of unsafe care,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “We need a patient safety culture that promotes partnership with patients, encourages reporting and learning from errors, and creates a blame-free environment where healthworkers are empowered and trained to reduce errors."
WHO says four out of every ten patients are harmed during primary and ambulatory healthcare. The most detrimental errors are related to diagnosis, prescription and the use of medicines. Medication errors alone cost an estimated $42 billion annually. Unsafe surgical care procedures cause complications in up to 25 percent of patients resulting in 1 million deaths during or immediately after surgery annually.
WHO is calling for urgent action by countries and partners around the world to reduce patient harm in healthcare. Patient safety and quality of care are essential for delivering effective health services and achieving universal health coverage. Investment in improving patient safety can lead to significant financial savings,
Greater patient involvement is the key to safer care. Engaging patients can reduce the burden of harm by up to 15 percent, saving billions of dollars each year.
On the very first World Patient Safety Day WHO is prioritizing patient safety as a global health priority and urging patients, healthcare workers, policy makers and healthcare industry to “Speak up for patient safety!”
Cities around the world will light up monuments in orange color to show their commitment to safety of patients on September 17. These include the Jet d’Eau in Geneva, the Pyramids in Cairo, the Kuala Lumpur Tower, The Royal Opera House in Muscat, and the Zakim bridge in Boston among others.
