Bahrain marks International Patient Safety Day

TDT | Manama           

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Kingdom yesterday joined the rest of the globe to mark International Patient Safety Day under the slogan “Medicine without Harm”. The observance sought to involve the public and raise awareness on the significant burden caused by errors and unsafe medication practices. It also involves key stakeholders and partners as part of efforts to prevent errors and drug practices and reduce harm associated with medicines.

The Ministry of Health has adopted a strategy with key emphasis on pharmaceutical safety and substantial reduction in the percentage of pharmaceutical errors and how to detect and track them up by establishing effective and scientifically effective goals and leveraging on the latest and experiments in this aspect. Speaking to The Daily Tribune, Dr Rama Krishna, General Surgeon at American Mission Hospital and a leading medical authority in the Kingdom, said: "Medication without harm is one of the major goals that we are implementing in every hospital with great care. “Medicines must be administered with extreme caution. Correct medication should be given to the correct patient and of course, the dosage also must be correct.

“The idea behind this slogan is to give the right medication when it is appropriate for the patient's clinical condition. If we give multiple medications, we must ensure that they do not interact. At the same time, in the hospital, we are very careful to give the correct medication, which is why we have a much defined process.” "We have multiple members on the team who will be monitoring to ensure that the patient is getting the right medicine," Dr Rama said. He also stated that “while we cannot guarantee the medicine is completely accurate and will not cause harm, we do ensure that we will prescribe medicine which is absolutely suitable for the patient”.

The global campaign for World Patient Safety Day suggested organising awareness campaigns and a series of activities, events and initiatives with the participation of government, NGOs and civil society based on the significance of combining efforts and joint international action to make healthcare safer. In this regard, the health system in the Kingdom provides the highest level of safety of medicines, checking their quality and effectiveness through many procedures, systems and standards approved of quality and efficiency. World Patient Safety Day, observed annually on 17 September, aims to raise global awareness about patient safety and call for solidarity and united action by all countries and international partners to reduce patient harm.