The Research Programme Team
The global research programme of WHO Patient Safety is managed by a small group of dedicated professionals at WHO headquarters, with the support of one of the world's leading experts in patient safety research and an Advisory Council.
EXPERT LEAD
Professor David Bates is Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston, USA. He is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health, where he is the Co-Director of the Programme in Clinical Effectiveness.
"The evidence now makes it clear that patient safety is an major issue in countries throughout the developed world. In most of the recent studies that have been done, about 10% of patients suffer an injury as the result of hospitalization. To date, we have much less information about patient safety in the developing world, but the existing data suggest that the problem is at least as big, though the issues differ by country. An early product of this programme will be a number of studies to help define the problem in the developing world. But more broadly, the programme will aim to define the patient safety research agenda in both the developing and developed worlds. In both, evaluation of the impact of interventions will undoubtedly be important.""
ADVISORY COUNCIL
The Advisory Council for Research was established in April 2006 to provide strategic guidance for the Research Programme. The Council is chaired by Dr Carolyn Clancy, Director of the US Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ). Its approximately twenty members represent top institutions responsible for research commissioning, research management and policy, and the dissemination of results. The Council meets at least once annually, to review research activities and approve future actions.
SECRETARIAT
The Secretariat is headed by Itziar Larizgoitia, supported by Carmen Audera Lopez, Katthyana Aparicio, Maki Kajiwara, Nittita Prasopa-Plaizier and Sorin Banica.
For more information regarding Patient Safety Research, please email psresearch@who.int