September 17: World Patient Safety Day
World Patient Safety Day observed on September 17, 2022.
Key points
- The objective of the World Patient Safety Day is to raise global awareness about different safety measures that need to be taken to ensure patient safety.
- It aims to increase public engagement in patient safety and create action plans to address issues that cause harm to patients.
- On this occasion, patients, caregivers, doctors, healthcare workers, healthcare leaders and advocates take part in events that increase public awareness about patient-centric care and encourage patient safety at the international level.
- The World Patient Safety Day came as the result of the 72nd World Health Assembly’s adoption of a resolution on “Global Action on Patient Safety” in 2019.
- The aim of the resolution was to strengthen global healthcare systems.
- 2022 marks the 4th edition of the World Patient Safety Day.
- The theme for this year is ‘Medication Safety’, with the slogan being ‘Medication Without Harm’.
- The theme focuses on raising awareness about the medication error and unsafe medication practices, which would cause adverse health consequences, disabilities and deaths.
Significance
- World Patient Safety Day seeks to promote drug safety and the create awareness about the burden caused by medical errors and unsafe medications.
- This is significant as unsafe medication practices and medication errors are costing approximately 42 million USD worldwide every year.
- In low and middle income countries, including the WHO South-East Asia Region, patient harm caused by unsafe care has resulted in around 134 million adverse events a year, resulting in about 2.6 million deaths.
- Medication errors are caused by weak healthcare systems and human factors like fatigue, poor environmental conditions or staff shortages.
- To address this issue, the Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021-2030 was adopted to promote policies, strategies and actions to remove avoidable risks and harm to patients and healthcare workers.
Month: Current affairs - September, 2022
Category: Important Days & Events Current Affairs