World Patient Safety Day 2021

World Patient Safety Day, celebrated every year on 17 September, is a campaign for all stakeholders in the health care system to work together and share engagement to improve patient safety. This year’s theme is Safe Maternal and Newborn Care.

Today, 17 September 2021, we are celebrating World Patient Safety Day, a recurrence firmly grounded in the fundamental principle of medicine – first do no harm. First established in 2019 by World Health Assembly through the adoption of resolution WHA72.6, World Patient Safety Day has the overall objectives of enhancing global understanding of patient safety, increasing public engagement in health care safety, and promoting global action to prevent and reduce avoidable harm in health care.

Considering the significant burden of harm women and newborns are exposed to due to unsafe care, this year’s World Patient Safety Day is dedicated to the need to prioritize and address safety in maternal and newborn care, particularly around the time of childbirth, when most harm occurs.

This is especially important in the context of disruption of health services due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has further compounded the situation.

We hope this occasion will act as a reminder to stakeholders and governments to recognize patient safety as a health priority in health sector policies and programmes, making it an essential component for strengthening health care systems in order to achieve universal health coverage.

To celebrate this year’s World Patient Safety Day, EPF asked the Platform for Continuous Improvement of Quality of Care and Patient Safety to join the latest episode of the EU Patient’s Podcast. You can listen here.