World Patient Safety Day: WHO calls for safer care for children, newborns

By Chioma Obinna

The World Health Organisation, WHO, has urged African countries to prioritise kid and newborn information successful wellness facilities arsenic portion of efforts to trim avoidable harm successful healthcare delivery.

The Regional Director for Africa, Dr Mohamed Janabi, made the telephone successful a property connection to people the 2025 World Patient Safety Day, commemorated each September 17.

According to him, diligent information remains “a instauration of wellness care, a pillar of Universal Health Coverage, and a cardinal pathway to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.”

“This year’s theme, ‘Safe attraction for each newborn and each child’, with the slogan ‘Patient information from the start!’, reminds america of the profound work we carnivore to support the youngest and astir susceptible among us,” helium said.

Janabi expressed interest implicit rising risks to newborns and children, peculiarly successful intensive attraction units, stressing that mediocre prime attraction alternatively than deficiency of entree accounts for astir maternal and neonatal deaths successful low- and middle-income countries.

“Alarmingly, mediocre prime attraction accounts for an estimated 60 per cent of maternal deaths and 56 per cent of neonatal deaths successful low- and middle-income countries. These are lives we tin and indispensable save,” helium said.

He noted that advancement was being recorded, arsenic 21 countries successful the African Region person already implemented National Quality Policies and Strategies that integrate diligent information enactment plans, including Infection Prevention and Control measures.

“WHO standards endorsed by Member States are improving the prime of attraction for mothers, newborns, children, and tiny oregon sick infants. These efforts are making a difference. But we indispensable bash much to guarantee that each patient, everywhere, receives harmless attraction astatine each constituent of contact,” helium added.

Highlighting the Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021–2030, Janabi called for safer objective processes, improved workforce competencies, diligent and household engagement, and acquisition for school-aged children to fortify advocacy for their ain health.

He urged African governments to rise nationalist consciousness of information risks successful paediatric and newborn care, mobilise enactment among wellness managers, nonrecreational bodies, and civilian nine for sustainable safer-care strategies, empower parents, caregivers, and children done acquisition and participation, and put successful probe and innovation to physique grounds for safer care.

Reaffirming WHO’s imaginativeness of “a satellite successful which nary diligent is harmed successful wellness care, and everyone receives harmless care, each time, everywhere,” Janabi urged unity successful protecting children from preventable harm.

“By strengthening systems, empowering families, and placing information astatine the bosom of care, we tin make healthier beginnings and much hopeful futures for each children successful Africa. Together, we tin marque diligent information a world from the precise commencement of life,” helium declared.

The station World Patient Safety Day: WHO calls for safer attraction for children, newborns appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.