One of the global public health days designated by WHO is World Patient Safety Day. The 72nd World Health Assembly created it in 2019 with the passage of resolution WHA72.6, "Global action on patient safety." Its goals are to raise public awareness and involvement, improve understanding on a worldwide scale, and promote international cooperation and member-state action to improve patient safety and lessen patient damage.

One of the biggest causes of preventable injury in the medical field worldwide is unsafe pharmaceutical practices and prescription errors. Medication errors happen when human variables, such as weariness, unfavorable environmental conditions, or personnel shortages, affect how safely a medication is administered. Serious patient injury, disability, and even death may ensue from this. The likelihood of medication errors and the associated medication-related harm have been markedly increased by the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic. In light of this, "Medication Safety" with the tagline "Medication Without Harm" has been chosen as the theme for World Patient Safety Day in 2022.

The global campaign reiterates the goals of WHO's 2017 Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm. The campaign urges all parties to prioritize and act quickly in regions where dangerous drug practices are significantly causing patient damage. These include high-risk circumstances, care transitions, polypharmacy (the simultaneous use of numerous drugs), and pharmaceuticals that look alike or sound like one another. Given the significant disruption in the delivery of healthcare services, the COVID-19 pandemic's effects on pharmaceutical safety will receive special attention from the campaign.

World Patient Safety Day 2022 goals are as follows:

• ADVOCATE immediate action to enhance drug safety and RAISE global awareness of the significant burden of pharmaceutical-related damage caused by medication errors and unsafe practices.
• Engage important partners and stakeholders in the initiatives to stop pharmaceutical errors and lessen harm from improper use of medications.
• EMPOWER patients and their families to take an active role in the medication's safe use.
• Implementing the WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm at a SCALE-UP level.

WHO is observing the day by hosting a number of webinars on pharmaceutical safety and releasing a number of technical goods and solutions in 2022. The World Health Organization (WHO) will plan a number of events and conduct a global virtual event on or about September 17, 2022.

PDO I Kimberly Tanador, RND

References:

World Patient Safety Day 2022

https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2022/09/17/default-calendar/world-patient-safety-day-2022

https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/campaigns-and-initiatives/patient-safety/announcing-world-patient-safety-day2022.pdf?sfvrsn=c5e32a09_34