Ministry of Health has launched new national guidelines and standards on World Patient Safety Day.
The health ministry held a special ceremony to mark this year's World Patient Safety Day, themed Medication Safety - Medication without Harm. During the ceremony, the ministry launched the National Guideline on Antenatal Care (ANC) and Postnatal Care (PNC), the National Standards for Clinical Laboratories, and the National Infection Prevention and Control Guideline. A digital platform for the Maldives healthcare Quality Standard was also launched at the ceremony.
The ministry stated efforts to improve healthcare services were conducted with the help of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in order to reduce the likelihood of patients being harmed during treatment. It also stated that one out of 10 patients is harmed during treatment, according to the 2019 world statistics.
World Patient Safety Day, observed annually on September 17, 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. The statistics show that 134 million people are harmed and 2.6 million people die each year due to harm inflicted during treatment.