ISLAMABAD: World Patient Safety Day (WPSD) will be marked on September 17 across the globe including Pakistan which aims to raise global awareness about patient safety and call for solidarity and united action by all countries and international partners to reduce patient harm.
Patient safety focuses on preventing and reducing risks, errors and harm that happen to patients during the provision of health care.
World Patient Safety Day is one of 11 official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO), along with World Tuberculosis Day, World Health Day, World Chagas Disease Day, World Malaria Day, World Immunization Week, World No Tobacco Day, World Blood Donor Day, World Hepatitis Day, World Antimicrobial Awareness Week and World AIDS Day.
Patient safety is a health care discipline that emerged due to the growing complexity of health care systems and the rise of patient harm in health care facilities. Patient harm due to adverse events is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide.
World Patient Safety Day was established in May 2019 when the 72nd World Health Assembly adopted resolution WHA 72.6 on ‘Global action on patient safety’.
This global campaign builds on a series of annual Global Ministerial Summits on Patient Safety initiated in 2016, as well as the high-level advocacy and commitment of major international and national stakeholders.
“World Patient Safety Day 2020 focuses on the interrelationship between health worker safety and patient safety. The slogan, ‘Safe health workers, Safe patients'”, emphasizes the need for a safe working environment for health workers as a prerequisite for ensuring patient safety.