World Patient Safety Day is observed every year on 17 September to promote awareness about different safety measures to ensure patient safety. The day, first observed in 2019, focuses on preventing and reducing risks, errors, and harm that patients face. It was established by the seventy-second World Health Assembly and various campaigns and awareness programs have been organized all over the world since then.
The theme for 2022 is ‘Medication Safety’, which is selected in the context of risks in medication errors and associated medication harm during the Covid-19 pandemic. The slogan is ‘Medication Without Harm.’
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the campaign calls on stakeholders to prioritize and take early action in key areas associated with significant patient harm due to unsafe medication practices. These include high-risk situations, transitions of care, polypharmacy (concurrent use of multiple medications) and look-alike, sound-alike medications.
To commemorate this, an awareness campaign will be organized in all of Delhi’s major hospitals. Many health workers and doctors will participate in the event.
Muskan Dwivedi, a second year nursing student, says, “These programs can be really helpful considering the real-time situation of our hospitals and staff, especially about drug overdose and prescriptions that come sometimes from both ends as well as the faculty and the patients.” She adds that an awareness program will be organized where nursing teams of her college will receive expert advice.
“The activities of the World Patient Safety Day will include several workshops presenting the latest scientific research patterns and recommendations related to drug safety”, says Manoj Sharma, a first year MBBS student. He states that awareness programs like these help the medical community in reducing risks, errors, and harm to patients.
WHO will plan a number of events and conduct a global virtual event to commemorate the day. Orange illumination of Geneva’s Jet d’Eau will be one of the festivities.
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