Daily Times

The World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with COMSTECH celebrated “World Patient Safety Day” under the slogan of “Medication without Harm” at COMSTECH on Friday.

World Patient Safety Day is marked annually on 17 September. It aims to raise awareness on how to prevent, reduce risks, errors, and harm that occur to patients during the provision of health care. In keynote address, Dr. Palitha Mahipala, Head of Mission/WHO Representative to Pakistan said that WHO’s vision is to ensure that every patient receives safe and respectful care, every time, everywhere.

He said, around 134 million adverse events happen in hospitals due to unsafe healthcare practices. Out of which estimated 2.6 million patients die annually.

The social cost of patient harm is estimated to be US$ 1 – 2 trillion a year. He said that the theme of this year’s commemoration is “Medication Safety” which addresses a critical component of safety in health care.