How the World Alliance for patient safety is transforming healthcare

Millions of lives are lost or harmed annually due to errors and adverse events in medical facilities. 

To stop this tragic statistic, the World Health Organization (WHO) established the World Alliance for Patient Safety in 2004 – an organization that has become the driving force behind change in the healthcare sector, uniting the efforts of governments, doctors, and patients worldwide. Russia joined the Alliance in 2006, demonstrating its commitment to improving patient safety within its own healthcare system.

The starting point was the sobering reality: widespread medication errors, negligence leading to hospital-acquired infections, and surgical miscalculations – all of these undermined trust in the healthcare system and caused irreparable harm to patients. The WHO understood that a systematic approach and the combined efforts of everyone involved were needed to combat this global problem.

Thus, the Alliance was born, becoming a platform for sharing experiences, developing recommendations, and implementing practical measures to improve safety. A key moment was the proclamation of the «Global Patient Safety Challenge» – an action plan aimed at reducing risks in medicine.

The first and most important task of the Alliance was to combat infections associated with medical care. This problem not only complicates the treatment of millions of patients each year but also leads to significant financial losses for healthcare systems.

In 2005-2006, the «Clean Care is Safer Care» program was launched, which called on participating countries to thoroughly assess the scale and nature of hospital-acquired infections; use internationally recognized methods of epidemiological surveillance; analyze the causes of infections, paying particular attention to systemic problems; develop and implement measures to reduce the risk of infection, focusing on hand hygiene, equipment cleanliness, environmental hygiene, and the safety of used medications; adhere to proven quality standards in all aspects; actively involve patients and healthcare professionals in the development and implementation of measures to improve safety; ensure the long-term sustainability of the measures taken.

In addition, the Alliance focused on specific risks existing in different regions of the world, such as unsafe injection practices and the transmission of infections through blood transfusions.

Today, the Alliances activities are not limited to combating infections. It develops practical guidelines, conducts educational programs and training, engages in public awareness campaigns, and actively collaborates with various partners around the world. Over the years, the Alliance has achieved significant success, raising awareness of the patient safety problem and implementing standards that have improved the quality of medical care in many countries. However, there is still much work to be done.

Among the priorities for the near future: actively involving patients in making decisions about their health, using digital technologies to monitor and improve patient safety, combating antibiotic resistance – one of the main threats of modern medicine.

The World Alliance for Patient Safety continues to be a key force in the fight to improve the quality and safety of medical care worldwide. Its work plays a crucial role in creating a healthier and safer future for all. This organization has proven that only by joining forces real change can be achieved and patients can be protected from unnecessary risks.

Anastasia Kalashnikova

Photo by the author

Russian Information Agency «National Alliance» 

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