Patient safety has been a central focus of international attention, research and policy dialogue for more than two decades, and is now widely recognized as a critical global public health priority. Experience from countries that have implemented national patient safety policies and programmes shows that, although health systems vary widely, many risks to patients arise from common systemic weaknesses and can be mitigated through comprehensive system improvements. While academic fora and technical expert platforms provide valuable opportunities to advance knowledge for evidence-based guidance, there have been comparatively few mechanisms that enable sustained engagement between policy makers and technical experts, and facilitate cross-country collaboration at the highest levels of decision-making.
To address this gap, the United Kingdom’s Department of Health and the German Federal Ministry of Health jointly launched the Global Ministerial Summits on Patient Safety in 2015–2016. These annual Summits’ series bring together ministers, policy makers, health-care leaders and international experts to strengthen political commitment, accelerate collective learning and catalyze global action to reduce avoidable harm in health care. The first Summits, held in London in March 2016 and Bonn in March 2017, set the foundation for a sustained global movement for patient safety, fostering high-level dialogue and promoting coordinated efforts to advance safe, high-quality care worldwide.’
Host countries for the previous Global Ministerial Summits on Patient Safety:
- 1st Summit - 9-10 March, 2016 in London, UK called for a global coordinated and focused movement to improve patient safety and for the establishment of the World Patient Safety Day.
- 2nd Summit - 29-30 March, 2017 in Bonn, Germany identified patient safety as a key theme in taking forward health systems strengthening efforts, and elevated patient safety as a global health priority. It also called for the establishment of World Patient Safety Day on 17 September. The 3rd WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm was also launched.
- 3rd Summit, 13-14 April 2018, in Tokyo, Japan, adopted the Tokyo Declaration, which called for patient safety as an integral element towards the achievement of UHC.
- 4th Summit, 2-3 March 2019 in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, focused on ‘Promoting Patient Safety in LMICs’ and led to the Jeddah Declaration on Patient Safety, which calls for action to invest, promote, and utilize the solutions to improve patient outcomes, safety culture, and care delivery systems.
- 5th Summit, 23-24 February 2023, in Montreux, Switzerland, focused on ‘Less Harm, Better Care – from Resolution to Implementation’, highlighting the need to bridge the delivery gap between knowledge and implementation, and focusing on the challenges to do so in the time of the pandemic. It led to the adoption of the Montreux Charter on Patient Safety (this Summit was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic).
- 6th Summit, 17-18 April 2024, in Santiago, Chile, focused on ‘Bringing and Sustaining Changes in Patient Safety Policies and Practices’ and culminated in the endorsement of the Santiago Commitment Charter on Patient Safety.