134M adverse events occur annually due to unsafe hospital care —WHO

Around 134 million adverse events are recorded every year in low and middle-income countries due to unsafe hospital care, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday.

This number, according to WHO, contributes to 2.6 million deaths annually.

The organization added that four out of 10 patients are harmed in the primary and ambulatory settings and up to 80% of harm in these settings can be avoided.

WHO also revealed that 15% of hospital expenses can be attributed to treating patient safety failures in some countries.

On the first-ever World Patient Safety Day on Tuesday, September 17, WHO said it will launch “a global campaign to create awareness of patient safety and urge people to show their commitment to making healthcare safer.”

According to WHO, adverse events due to unsafe care is likely one of the 10 leading causes of death and disability in the world.

“Patient Safety is a health care discipline that emerged with the evolving complexity in health care systems and the resulting rise of patient harm in health care facilities,” WHO said.

“It aims to prevent and reduce risks, errors and harm that occur to patients during provision of health care,” it added.

WHO said clear policies, leadership capacity, data to drive safety improvements, skilled health care professionals and effective involvement of patients in their care are needed to ensure patient safety. —Joviland Rita/KBK, GMAN ews