Department of Health calls for urgent action to ensure patient safety
Worldwide, patients are harmed each year due to unsafe health care resulting in 2.6 million deaths annually in low-and middle-income countries alone.
![](https://images.caxton.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2019/09/patient-safety.jpg)
Mpumalanga health care workers at provincial, district, sub-district and facility level will participate in Patient Safety Workshops in three districts from today until Friday, September 19.
The objective for these workshops is to inculcate a patient safety culture that promotes partnership with patients, encourages reporting and learning from errors, and creates a blame-free environment where health workers are empowered and trained to reduce errors.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) is also calling for urgent action by countries and partners around the world to reduce patient harm in healthcare. Today, a campaign in solidarity with patients will be launched on the very first World Patient Safety Day which will be recognized annually worldwide.