World Patient Safety Day: WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medication without Harm

September 17 was proclaimed as World Patient Safety Day in 2019 during the 72nd World Health Organization Assembly, with the aim of promoting measures to reduce preventable patient harm resulting from healthcare.

Since then, the WHO has issued a call to action each year around a specific theme, addressed to healthcare professionals, managers and leaders, policymakers, academic and research institutions, scientific societies, patient associations, patients, family members, and society as a whole.

The theme selected for World Patient Safety Day 2022 is "WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm."

Medication errors occur when deficiencies in medication systems and human factors, such as fatigue, poor environmental conditions, or staff shortages, affect the safety of the medication administration process. This can lead to serious patient harm, disability, and even death. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly exacerbated the risk of medication errors and associated harms.

With the slogan "Medication Without Harm," the campaign aims to:

1. Raise global awareness of the high burden of medication-related harm due to medication errors and unsafe practices, and advocate for urgent action to improve medication safety.

2. Engage key stakeholders and partners in efforts to prevent medication errors and reduce medication-related harms.

3. Empower patients and families to be actively involved in safe medication use.

4. Expand implementation of the WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm.

The WHO provides annual campaign outreach materials, also available for download in Spanish.

In Spain, the conference will take place on September 16th in the Ernest Lluch Auditorium of the Ministry of Health and is organized by the Ministry of Health and the Autonomous Communities in collaboration with the Spanish Society for Healthcare Quality (SECA).

During the conference, eight best practices implemented in healthcare centers in different Autonomous Communities to promote the safe use of medications will be presented. These practices reflect the key themes of the "Medication Without Harm" campaign: care transitions, chronic polymedicated patients, and the safe use of medications in high-risk situations in both primary care and hospital settings.

The program and registration can be found here.