African Partnerships for Patient Safety
African Partnerships for Patient Safety (APPS) has launched the second wave of Europe-to-Africa hospital partnerships to improve patient safety in five countries. APPS proposes a unique partnership model translating policy into action to improve patient safety in hospitals in the African region. Hospitals in Africa are teamed up with counterparts in Europe to allow the sharing of tools, processes and learning based on three core objectives: partnership strength; hospital patient safety improvements; and patient safety spread. Building on the success of a "first wave" of partnerships established in 2009, new partnerships between hospitals in Africa and the UK were launched in a "second wave". For more information on APPS, please visit;
Release of Multi-professional Curriculum Guide
The new Multi-professional Patient Safety Curriculum Guide released by WHO Patient Safety in October 2011 promotes the need for patient safety education to improve the safety of care. The comprehensive guide assists universities and schools in the fields of dentistry, medicine, midwifery, nursing and pharmacy to teach patient safety. It also supports the training of all health-care professionals on a number of priority patient safety concepts to improve learning about patient safety.
Reducing bloodstream infections in Spain
The results of the Spanish BACTERIEMIA ZERO project were presented on 27 October 2011 in Madrid during an event in which Sir Liam Donaldson represented WHO Patient Safety. BACTERIEMIA ZERO, a collaborative effort between WHO, the Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Policy and Equity and the National Society of Intensive Care (SEMICYUC), is a project aimed at decreasing or eliminating Blood Stream Infection (BSI) related to central catheter lines in around 200 intensive care units throughout Spain. BSI related to central catheter lines are associated with high mortality and morbidity rates, extended ICU stays and increased health-care costs.
Evidence of unsafe care
Findings from the Latin American Study of Adverse Events (IBEAS) are a reflection of the reality of many other hospitals in transitional countries across the globe: on a given day, 1 in 10 patients admitted to the participating hospitals were suffering from, or undergoing treatment for, a health care -related adverse event. The risk of suffering adverse events doubled if the entire hospital stay was considered. This evidence highlights the importance of addressing patient safety globally.
What is patient safety?
Patient safety is the absence of preventable harm to a patient during the process of health care. The discipline of patient safety is the coordinated efforts to prevent harm, caused by the process of health care itself, from occurring to patients. Over the past ten years, patient safety has been increasingly recognized as an issue of global importance, but much work remains to be done.
Who we are
WHO Patient Safety was created to facilitate the development of patient safety policy and practice across all WHO Member States and to act as a major force for patient safety improvement across the world.
Our vision
Every patient receives safe health care, every time, everywhere.
Our mission
The mission of WHO Patient Safety is to coordinate, facilitate and accelerate patient safety improvements around the world by:
- being a leader and advocating for change;
- generating and sharing knowledge and expertise;
- supporting Member States in their implementation of patient safety actions.
