PUNE: Millions of patients are harmed each year due to unsafe health care worldwide resulting in 2.6 million deaths annually in low-and middle-income countries alone.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is focusing global attention on the issue of patient safety and has launched a campaign prioritising patient safety as a global health priority.
In an official statement, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General said that no one should be harmed while receiving health care.
“And yet globally, at least 5 patients die every minute because of unsafe care.
We need a patient safety culture that promotes partnership with patients, encourages reporting and learning from errors and creates a blame-free environment where health workers are empowered and trained to reduce errors,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
As per WHO, four out of every 10 patients are harmed during primary and ambulatory health care. The most detrimental errors are related to diagnosis, prescription and the use of medicines. Medication errors alone cost an estimated US$ 42 billion annually.
Unsafe surgical care procedures cause complications in up to 25 per cent of patients resulting in 1 million deaths during or immediately after surgery annually.
WHO has called for urgent action by countries and partners around the world to reduce patient harm in health care.
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. The cost of prevention is much lower than the cost of treatment due to harm. As an example, WHO stated that in the United States alone, focused safety improvements led to an estimated US$28 billion in savings in Medicare hospitals between 2010 and 2015.
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.
