The World Health Organization implemented a global initiative, the Global Patient Safety Challenge on Medication Safe, aimed at reducing avoidable medication-associated harm by 50 percent over the next five years, according to News-Medical.
Here are four things to note:
1. The initiative will identify health systems' inefficiencies that result in medication errors.
2. WHO's Global Patient Safety Challenge on Medication Safety will provide ways to improve how providers prescribe medication as well as how patients consume medications.
3. The plan also seeks to bolster patient awareness on improper medication use risks.
4. News-Medical reports that Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO director-general, said, "We all expect to be helped, not harmed, when we take medication," said. "Apart from the human cost, medication errors place an enormous and unnecessary strain on health budgets. Preventing errors saves money and saves lives."