World Patient Safety Day: WHO makes patient safety a health priority

A doctor offers medication to a HIV patient in Cambodia. Medication errors are estimated to cost US$42 billion (RM175.3 billion) annually worldwide. — AFP filepic

While healthcare has brought enormous benefits to mankind, it is not without risks. Adverse events due to unsafe care are one of the 10 leading causes of death and disability globally. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that there is a one-in-3,000,000 risk of dying while travelling by airplane.

In contrast, the risk of dying due to a preventable medical accident while receiving health care, is estimated to be one in 300. In fact, as many as one in every 10 patients is harmed while receiving hospital care in high-income countries.