Washington D.C., September 25, 2024 (PAHO) – The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) celebrated World Patient Safety Day 2024 with a webinar that gathered over 1,500 participants from 58 countries and territories. The event focused on this year’s theme, "Improving Diagnosis for Patient Safety," highlighting the need to strengthen clinical diagnostics as a key element to prevent avoidable harm in healthcare.
“This seminar is a unique opportunity to highlight patient safety as an essential attribute of quality in healthcare. It is not possible to guarantee adequate quality or access to health services without ensuring patient safety,” said Ernesto Báscolo, Unit Chief of Primary Health Care and Integrated Service Delivery Unit at PAHO.
“Diagnostic errors can occur due to failures in establishing a correct and timely explanation of the patient’s health problem, resulting in incorrect, delayed, or inadequately communicated diagnoses. Globally, diagnostic errors represent 16% of preventable harm to patients,” he added.
The seminar featured four panels that addressed topics related to patient safety, such as the importance of active patient participation in diagnostic processes and the need to provide the most appropriate conditions for health professionals to improve safety. Additionally, speakers from Brazil and Ecuador shared experiences on implementing innovative strategies, such as the use of new technologies to improve the accuracy of HIV and hypertension diagnoses at the primary care level.
“PAHO and WHO are committed to supporting countries in reducing diagnostic errors. This will only be achievable through robust collaboration and multisectoral interventions grounded in systems thinking, human factors, and the active engagement of patients, their families, healthcare workers, and leaders,” said James Fitzgerald, Director of Health Systems and Services Department at PAHO.
The event concluded with a call to action to strengthen communication between patients and healthcare professionals, improve working conditions for medical staff, and promote the implementation of technologies that facilitate safer diagnostics.
“We are confident that we can work to reduce the harm associated with diagnostic errors. To achieve this, we must implement targeted interventions and policies that reduce the risk of errors during patient-clinician interactions. PAHO will continue working with countries to ensure that health systems prioritize patient safety at all stages,” Fitzgerald concluded.
World Patient Safety Day has been celebrated every September 17 since its establishment in 2019 by the World Health Assembly, with the aim of raising global awareness and fostering solidarity among countries to improve patient safety. This year, the campaign called on all stakeholders to prioritize diagnostic safety through the implementation of multidimensional approaches involving health systems, professionals, patients, and their families.
As part of the awareness activities, and responding to WHO’s call, PAHO’s headquarters in Washington D.C. was illuminated in orange from September 15 to 21. This color symbolizes the Organization’s commitment to patient safety.
