about patient safety, increase public engagement in health care safety, etc.
Every person around the world will, at some point in their life, take
medications to prevent or treat illness. However, medications
sometimes cause serious harm if incorrectly stored, prescribed,
dispensed, administered or if monitored insufficiently.
Unsafe medication practices and medication errors are a leading
cause of avoidable harm in health care across the world.
Medication errors occur when weak medication systems and
human factors such as fatigue, poor environmental conditions
or staff shortages affect the safety of the medication use process.
This can result in severe patient harm, disability and even death.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has significantly exacerbated
the risk of medication errors and associated medication-related
harm. It is in this context that ‘Medication Safety’ has been
selected as the theme for World Patient Safety Day 2022,
with the slogan ‘Medication Without Harm’.
The global campaign reaffirms the objectives of the
WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm
launched by WHO in 2017. 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. The campaign will
provide a special focus on the implications of the COVID-19
pandemic for medication safety, considering the serious
disruption in the provision of health services.
World Patient Safety Day is one of WHO’s global public health days.
It was established in 2019 by the Seventy-second World Health
Assembly through the adoption of resolution WHA72.6 –
“Global action on patient safety”. Its objectives are to
increase public awareness and engagement, enhance
global understanding, and work towards global solidarity
and action by Member States to enhance patient safety and
reduce patient harm.
Objectives of World Patient Safety Day 2022:
- RAISE global awareness of the high burden of medication-related
- harm due to medication errors and unsafe practices, and
- ADVOCATE urgent action to improve medication safety.
- ENGAGE key stakeholders and partners in the efforts to
- prevent medication errors and reduce medication-related harm.
- EMPOWER patients and families to be actively involved in the
- safe use of medication.
- SCALE UP implementation of the WHO Global Patient Safety
- Challenge: Medication Without Harm.
Commemorating World Patient Safety Day 2022
To observe the day, WHO is organizing a series of webinars
on medication safety and is producing a number of medication
safety solutions and technical products in 2022. On and around
17 September 2022, WHO will organize a wide range of
activities and host a global virtual event. Celebrations will
include lighting up of Geneva’s Jet d’Eau in orange colour.
Member States and partners are invited to participate in
the global campaign by pledging to implement the
WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm,
organizing activities, holding events and lighting up iconic
monuments in orange in support of medication safety.
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