The National Department of Health has called for joint efforts between health practitioners, leaders, educators and communities, to prevent avoidable harm in paediatric care and to build a safe and healthy future for all children. The department’s plea follows the commemoration of World Patient Safety Day on 17 September, under the theme ‘Safe care for every newborn and every child’. According to the ministry, newborns and young children remain vulnerable to evolving health needs and disease patterns. “Strengthening safety in paediatric and newborn case is essential for any country to achieving universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 target of ending preventable deaths of newborns and children under the age of five,” the department indicated. In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) data shows that one in every ten patients is harmed in health care and more than three million deaths occur annually due to unsafe care globally. This was attributed to among others, medical error, unsafe surgical procedures, diagnostic error or healthcare associated infections. The department described this year’s World Patient Safety Day campaign as an amplified call for global safer systems that are free from avoidable harm. It made a clarion call for the implementation of patient rights and safety, with the aim to achieve improved health outcomes.
Department of Health calls for increased child patient safety
