WORLD PATIENT SAFETY DAY 2020 | Safe Health Workers, Safe Patients – 17 September

What is World Patient Safety Day about?

Recognizing patient safety as a global health priority, all 194 WHO Member States at the 72nd World Health Assembly, in May 2019, endorsed the establishment of World Patient Safety Day (Resolution WHA72.6), to be marked annually on 17 September. The objectives of World Patient Safety Day are to increase public awareness and engagement, enhance global understanding, and spur global solidarity and action to promote patient safety.

This year:

The COVID-19 pandemic has unveiled the huge challenges and risks health workers are facing globally including health care associated infections, violence, stigma, psychological and emotional disturbances, illness and even death. Furthermore, working in stressful environments makes health workers more prone to errors which can lead to patient harm.

WHO and other international patient organisations will observe World Patient Safety Day on 17 September 2020 and launch a global campaign to emphasize the importance of health worker safety as a priority for patient safety.

The campaign aims to mobilize patients, health workers, health leaders, policy-makers, academics, researchers, professional networks, the private sector and health care industry to speak up for health worker safety to improve the safety of health care, and reduce the risk of harm, both to health workers and patients.

Did you know that:

134 million adverse events occur each year due to unsafe care in hospitals in low- and middle-income countries, contributing to 2.6 million deaths annually? 15% of hospital expenses can be attributed to treating patient safety failures in OECD countries? 4 out of 10 patients are harmed in the primary and ambulatory settings; up to 80% of harm in these settings can be avoided?  

Objectives of World Patient Safety Day 2020:

⭐ Raise global awareness about the importance of health worker safety and its interlinkages with patient safety

⭐ Engage multiple stakeholders and adopt multimodal strategies to improve the safety of health workers and patients

⭐ Implement urgent and sustainable actions by all stakeholders which recognize and invest in the safety of health workers, as a priority for patient safety

⭐ Provide due recognition of health workers’ dedication and hard work, particularly amid the current fight against COVID-19

More information is available HERE