NEW DELHI, 16 February 2023: In an ever-changing health care landscape, health systems globally are operating in increasingly complex environments, which can also pose threats to safety and quality of care. In this context, patient safety is a fundamental principle of health care which is now being recognized as a growing global public health challenge.
India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) organized a 2-day workshop on 16-17 February in collaboration with WHO Country Office for India to accelerate patient safety in India.
Speaking at the event, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Minister of State, MoHFW said that “India has always recognized the importance of patient safety and prioritized it as a public health issue.” Dr Pawar emphasized that patient safety is imperative to ensuring quality health care and several initiatives and innovations are being undertaken in the country in that direction.
Congratulating the ministry for their commitment towards preventing and reducing harms that may occur during provision of health care, Dr Roderico H Ofrin WHO Representative to India, said, “The collective commitment and efforts of central and state governments with support from all stakeholders will create an environment in which no one is harmed in health care and every patient receives safe and respectful care, every time, everywhere.”
WHO Member States agreed upon a World Health Assembly resolution on patient safety and India was one of the first countries to sign the Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021-2030. India’s National Patient Safety Implementation Framework (NPSIF) was implemented in 2018 for all levels of care, across all modalities of health care provision including prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up within an overall context of improving quality of care and progressing towards universal health coverage.
The national workshop has brought key stakeholders on a common platform to sensitize them on their role in the implementation of NPSIF and strengthen their capacity on various facets of patient safety including the development of state action plans.
The event was also attended by senior MoHFW officials including Mr Lav Agarwal, Additional Secretary; Dr Neelam Dhingra, Unit Head, WHO Patient Safety Flagship; Dr L. Swasticharan, Additional DDG and Director Emergency Medical Relief, Dr J. N. Srivastava Senior Advisor - National Health Systems Resource Centre.