Every year, the global community celebrates “World Patient Safety Day” with the aim to enhance global understanding about patient safety, promote global actions to enhance patient safety and reduce patient harm through increasing public engagement in the safety of health care.
This year’s World Patient Safety Day was celebrated on 17 September 2021 with the theme “Safe maternal and newborn care,” and prime objectives of raising global awareness on the issues of maternal and newborn safety, particularly during childbirth, engaging multiple stakeholders and adopting effective and innovative strategies to improve maternal and newborn safety.
What is more, the day was observed to call for urgent and sustainable actions by all stakeholders to scale up efforts, reach the unreached and ensure safe maternal and newborn care, particularly during childbirth, as well as advocate the adoption of best practices at the point of care to prevent avoidable risks and harm on all women and newborns during childbirth.
As to a report issued by WHO in relation to the day, approximately 810 women die every day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. In addition, around 6700 newborns die every day, amounting to 47 percent of all under-5 deaths. Furthermore, about 2 million babies are stillborn every year, with over 40 percent occurring during labor.
Considering the significant burden of risks and harm women and newborns are exposed to due to unsafe care, compounded by the disruption of essential health services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, marking the day with special emphasis for Safe maternal and newborn care is even more important. As to the report, raising the global understanding of patient safety, increasing public awareness and engagement of all stakeholders and the adoption of comprehensive health systems and community-based approaches at this critical moment is a sounding step and a must.
In a similar vein, the day was marked here in Ethiopia recently with the aim to raise the quality and accessibility of healthcare service in the health sector. The Day was observed with a theme “Let’s work together for safe and respectful delivery service.”
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Hellina Tadesse, Medical Service Director General with Ministry of Health (MoH) said that while we are celebrating World Patient Safety Day, we have to bear in mind the importance of delivering safe maternal and infant healthcare services. Especially, during child birth, we have to work to raise the level of awareness and expand the service.
Through increasing the involvement of stakeholders, identifying effective ways that enable to improve the safety of mothers and infants is of critical importance, she stressed.
Ministry’s Quality service Director, Dr. Hassen Mohammed on his part urged health institutions to adopt and exercise effective ways that are crucial to ensure safe and respectful delivery service.
In relation to the day, Health Minister Dr. Lia Tadesse visited Gandhi Memorial Hospital. In a message she extended on the occasion, the Minister said: “we have to strive to discharge our responsibility and reaffirm commitment not only to save the lives of mothers and infants, but also to strengthen the quality and safety of our healthcare system to ensure that they receive timely, quality and standardized healthcare they deserve. As part of this, it is a pleasure to visit the Gandhi Memorial Hospital.”
Dr. Lia also witnessed as there are encouraging moves in the Hospital with regard to providing respectful and quality services in maternal and infant care. She also visited the first of its kind one-stop Gender-Based Violence Center that was launched ten years ago.
In an exclusive with The Ethiopian Herald, Health practitioner Tsegereda Astatike on her part said that almost all deaths of maternal and newborn are preventable. They can be averted easily through conducting serious follow up and the provision of safe and quality care. However, to this effect, certain conditions should be fulfilled.
As to her, the availability of skilled human power (especially skilled attendants at birth/midwiferies), as well as adequate supply of equipment are also critical to provide quality services because they are reasons for most deaths that come to happen on women during childbirth.
By the same token, promoting the active engagement of all stakeholders and the adoption of comprehensive health systems is equally critical. Building the professional capacity of practitioners is the other important matter that cannot be overlooked, she opined.
“We are morally and ethically bounded to ensure the safety of patient and save lives through providing standardized, quality service. Thus, all of us should act accordingly” she reiterated.
In fact, since the past two decades, Ethiopia has made encouraging strides towards improving the health of women and infants and enabled to reduce maternal and child mortality rate significantly. However, more works are ahead in fully averting the challenges. In this respect the role health professionals, partners and stakeholders play is immense.
As documents demonstrated, World Patient Safety Day was established in 2019 to enhance global understanding of patient safety, increase public engagement in the safety of health care and promote global actions to enhance patient safety and reduce patient harm.
All 194 WHO Member States at the 72nd World Health Assembly, in May 2019, endorsed the establishment of World Patient Safety Day (Resolution WHA72.6), to be marked annually on 17 September, it was learnt.
BY STAFF REPORTER
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD OCTOBER 1/2021
