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May 4, 2007: Medical errors, even as
basic as hospital workers spreading infections by
not washing their hands, harm millions of people
worldwide each day.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a
list of nine solutions intended to improve patient
safety around the world and to reduce the number
of health care-related accidents.
According to WHO, medical errors affect one in 10
patients worldwide.
The safety of patients is a matter of concern both
in developing and developed countries. In order to
address this issue, WHO’s Collaborating Center on
Patient Safety has created a checklist of “nine
life-saving patient safety solutions.”
Among the potential dangers listed are look-alike
and sound-alike medicines, patient
misidentification, the spread of HIV and other
diseases through the reuse of needles, and
improper hygiene.
Liam Donaldson, head of WHO’s World Health
Alliance, explained some of the common problems at
a conference in Washington.
“Any of those things could kill or harm us,”
Donaldson said. “This is not some remote idea that
affects people who are patients in other parts of
the world that we never hear about day-to-day.
They could affect any one of us in this room, and
that is really what this programme is about –
trying to reduce risk for health care everywhere
for everyone.”
Tebogo Letlape, former president of the World
Medical Association, said teaching the simple
practice of hand washing in the home and at
schools in Africa could go a long way in
preventing the spread of disease.
Worldwide, 25% of deaths are related to infectious
diseases. But, in Africa, the figure is more than
40%.
Karen Timmons, president of a United States-based
patient safety organisation gave out some stunning
facts: Globally, 1.4 million patients who enter
the hospital each year actually end up more sick,
because they acquire an infection while being
treated for their original illness. In the United
States, more people die from medical errors than
losing their lives from traffic accidents, breast
cancer or HIV/AIDS.
Unsafe injections with reused and unsterilised
equipment are believed to occur most often in
South Asia, the Middle East and Western Pacific
regions.
In sub-Saharan Africa, up to 18% of injections is
given with reused syringes or unsterilised
needles, increasing the risk of hepatitis and HIV.
In 2005, WHO had designated the US-based Joint
Commission and the Joint Commission International
as its Collaborating Center on Patient Safety
Solutions. The Joint Commission and its
international branch evaluate and accredit health
care organisations in the United States and
overseas.
The World Health Organisation, which drafted the
recommendations with feedback from experts from
over 100 nations, has recommended the following
steps:
Improve hand hygiene of medical workers partly by
making alcohol-based hand rubs widely available.
Ensure proper patient identification to guard
against one person getting medicine intended for
another or newborns being given to the wrong
parents.
Ensure that surgical operations are performed on
the right body parts.
Double-check similar-sounding medication names and
resolve the problem of illegible prescriptions.
Ban reuse of needles to prevent transmission of
viruses that cause AIDS and hepatitis.
Ensure that medical workers communicate about
patients' care and condition when passing the
responsibility of care to others.
Control concentrated electrolyte solutions and
avoid catheter and tubing connection problems.
BY OUR PHARMA CORRESPONDENT
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