This Day in History: 2025-09-17

International Patient Safety Day.
Patient safety is an imperative of quality health care and a priority area of ​​the health system. The Second Global Ministerial Meeting on Patient Safety, held in Bonn on 29-30 March 2017, endorsed a World Health Organization resolution to establish International Patient Safety Day on 17 September. The adoption of this decision demonstrates the importance of patient safety worldwide. The date of September 17 symbolizes the strengthening of awareness of patient safety in all health systems. According to epidemiological data, adverse events that result in unintentional damage to the patient caused by error during treatment in a hospital health facility occur in 8% to 12% of hospitalized patients. A large number of adverse events in both hospital health care and primary care can be prevented. In complex high-risk processes such as healthcare delivery, it is never possible to anticipate all risks, but one should and can always strive to improve patient safety, with good communication between all parties playing a key role. The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia is drafting a National Program for Patient Safety, and a commission will be formed to implement the program.