World Patient Safety Day
World Patient Safety Day (WPSD), observed annually on 17 September, 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.[1] Patient safety focuses on preventing and reducing risks, errors and harm that happen to patients during the provision of health care.[2]
World Patient Safety Day
All Member States of the World Health Organization
17 September 2024
annual
WHO global health campaigns
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 or World AMR (Anti-Microbial Resistant) Awareness Week,[3] and World AIDS Day.[4]
Background[edit]
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. The available evidence suggests that hospitalization in low- and middle-income countries leads to 134 million adverse events annually, which in turn result in 2.6 million deaths. In high-income countries, approximately one in ten patients is harmed while receiving hospital care.[5]
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’.[6] 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.