by The Federal Government says it will develop a National Policy on Patient Safety and Quality of care to reduce severe preventable medication-related harm by 50%, in the next 5 years.
The policy focuses on improving medication safety, surgical safety and the safety of all medical procedures.
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire made this known in Abuja, at a press briefing to commemorate the 2022 World Patient Safety Day with the theme: Medication Safety and the slogan is: Medication without Harm.
Represented by Director and Head of Hospital Services, Dr Adebimpe Adebiyi, Dr Ehanire said that the National Policy would be launched this year and deployed for use at all health care facilities.
He said the benefits of medications cannot be overemphasized, as they could sometimes cause serious harm if not used correctly as a result of communication gap between the patient and healthcare giver and error in prescriptions and misuse of antibiotics.
The Minister explained that the goal of medication safety was to reduce severe and preventable medication-related harm by 50% in the next 5 years by addressing harm resulting from errors.
Dr Ehanire, urged patients to always ask questions about the medications prescribed.
The World Health Organization, WHO Country Representative, Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo, stressed that medication errors commonly occur due to shortages of well-trained health staff, and poor working environmental conditions to deliver quality healthcare.
Source: radionigeria
