Recognizing patient safety as a global health priority, 194 countries came together to establish 17 September as World Patient Safety Day at the 72nd World Health Assembly. On this day, every year, WHO will spotlight patient safety to increase public awareness and engagement; enhance global understanding and spur global solidarity and action.
The theme is "Patient Safety: a global health priority" and the slogan is “Speak up for patient safety.”
The campaign aims to mobilize patients, health workers, policymakers, academics, researchers,
professional networks and the health-care industry to speak up for patient safety.1
World Patient Safety Day & Self-Care
The Global Self-Care Federation draws upon the following areas identified by WHO as a means of increasing public awareness and enhancing global understanding of patient safety:
Promote Patient's voice in their own safe-care
- We call upon individuals to actively engage in their own care, employing self-care responsibly as a means of managing health, preventing disease, and promoting overall wellness. Individuals should be empowered to make informed decisions about health in order to maximize safety and minimize risk.
- Safe and responsible self-care also involves communicating with healthcare professionals (including the pharmacist) to ensure safety and quality care for all.
Advocate for safety in health care as a requirement
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We call for healthcare systems to engage and empower individuals, families, and communities to deliver safer healthcare, and to mark World Patient Safety Day annually as a means of promoting all aspects of individual safety.
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1https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-patient-safety-day-2019/campaign-essentials/