World Patient Safety Day: WHO calls for safer care for children, newborns

By Chioma Obinna

The World Health Organisation, WHO, has urged African countries to prioritise child and newborn safety in health facilities as part of efforts to reduce avoidable harm in healthcare delivery.

The Regional Director for Africa, Dr Mohamed Janabi, made the call in a press statement to mark the 2025 World Patient Safety Day, commemorated every September 17.

According to him, patient safety remains “a foundation of health care, a pillar of Universal Health Coverage, and a key pathway to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.”

“This year’s theme, ‘Safe care for every newborn and every child’, with the slogan ‘Patient safety from the start!’, reminds us of the profound responsibility we bear to protect the youngest and most vulnerable among us,” he said.

Janabi expressed concern over rising risks to newborns and children, particularly in intensive care units, stressing that poor quality care rather than lack of access accounts for most maternal and neonatal deaths in low- and middle-income countries.

“Alarmingly, poor quality care accounts for an estimated 60 per cent of maternal deaths and 56 per cent of neonatal deaths in low- and middle-income countries. These are lives we can and must save,” he said.

He noted that progress was being recorded, as 21 countries in the African Region have already implemented National Quality Policies and Strategies that integrate patient safety action plans, including Infection Prevention and Control measures.

“WHO standards endorsed by Member States are improving the quality of care for mothers, newborns, children, and small or sick infants. These efforts are making a difference. But we must do more to ensure that every patient, everywhere, receives safe care at every point of contact,” he added.

Highlighting the Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021–2030, Janabi called for safer clinical processes, improved workforce competencies, patient and family engagement, and education for school-aged children to strengthen advocacy for their own health.

He urged African governments to raise national awareness of safety risks in paediatric and newborn care, mobilise action among health managers, professional bodies, and civil society for sustainable safer-care strategies, empower parents, caregivers, and children through education and participation, and invest in research and innovation to build evidence for safer care.

Reaffirming WHO’s vision of “a world in which no patient is harmed in health care, and everyone receives safe care, every time, everywhere,” Janabi urged unity in protecting children from preventable harm.

“By strengthening systems, empowering families, and placing safety at the heart of care, we can create healthier beginnings and more hopeful futures for all children in Africa. Together, we can make patient safety a reality from the very start of life,” he declared.

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