Globally, it is widely accepted that 10% of inpatient admissions are associated with adverse events. In the Eastern Mediterranean Region, up to 18% of hospital admissions are associated with adverse events and about 3% of hospital admissions are associated with an adverse event that is severe enough to cause death or permanent disability. 83% of recorded adverse events are judged to be preventable.

The WHO Regional Office patient safety programme provides tools and training for nationals and technical support to national capacity-building, education, advocacy and awareness-raising programmes. The programme aims to ensure that the patient's voice is heard and that the community is actively involved in patient safety programmes. The programme also aims to shed light on the magnitude of the patient safety problem and to liaise with relevant counterparts and policy-makers to take actions for improvement.

Read more about the programme