Medication safety is the core focus of the World Health Organization's 2022 World Patient Safety Day, held annually on Sept. 17.
Three things to know:
1. WHO implemented the global public health day in 2019 to increase awareness of key patient safety issues.
2. Every year, the WHO selects a different theme for Patient Safety Day to highlight various patient safety priority areas. This year's theme is medication safety.
"Unsafe medication practices and medication errors are a leading cause of avoidable harm in healthcare across the world," WHO said, noting that the pandemic has significantly increased the risk of such errors.
3. To observe World Patient Safety Day 2022, the WHO is urging key stakeholders to ramp up efforts to prevent medication errors and reduce medication-related harm. The organization is also offering a series of webinars on medication safety and sharing various medication safety solutions and technical products for stakeholders to use this year.