What is patient safety?

Safety is a crucial consideration for patients and patients' organisations in every country and health system. Patient safety can be compromised in many ways, including by the use of counterfeit or substandard medicines, hospital cleanliness and medical or surgical errors. 

Patient safety has been confirmed by IAPO members as a priority since 2006. An international concerted effort is needed in order to address patient safety, encompassing medical errors, the integrity of medicines and quality of patient information amongst other issues. We were on the steering group of Patients for Patient Safety - one of the six action areas for the World Health Organization (WHO) World Alliance for Patient Safety, established in 2004.  

To learn more, see IAPO's policy briefing on patient safety (2017) and the Patient Safety Toolkit here.

World Patient Safety Day 

World Patient Safety Day (WPSD) is an official WHO campaign and a moment for the global health community to come together to raise public awareness, understanding and engagement to promote patient safety globally. 

WPSD is celebrated annually on 17th September. The campaign is a result of the WHA7.6 Resolution ‘Global Action on Patient Safety’ passed on 28 May 2019 at the World Health Assembly. The passing of the resolution is a global commitment made by all WHO member states to recognise patient safety as a key health priority and agree to take action to reduce patient harm in health care settings.

Learn more about World Patient Safety Day here.

See our campaign activities in 2025 here.