Medication Without Harm
Unsafe medication practices and medication errors are a leading cause of injury and avoidable harm in health care systems across the world. Globally, the cost associated with medication errors has been estimated at $42 billion USD annually. Errors can occur at different stages of the medication use process. Medication errors occur when weak medication systems and/or human factors such as fatigue, poor environmental conditions or staff shortages affect prescribing, transcribing, dispensing, administration and monitoring practices, which can then result in severe harm, disability and even death. Multiple interventions to address the frequency and impact of medication errors have already been developed, yet their implementation is varied. A wide mobilization of stakeholders supporting sustained actions is required. In response to this, WHO has identified Medication Without Harm as the theme for the third Global Patient Safety Challenge.
The third WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm will propose solutions to address many of the obstacles the world faces today to ensure the safety of medication practices. WHO’s goal is to achieve widespread engagement and commitment of WHO Member States and professional bodies around the world to reducing the harm associated with medication.
Medication Without Harm aims to reduce severe avoidable medication-related harm by 50%, globally in the next 5 years. It was formally launched at the Second Global Ministerial Patient Safety Summit in Bonn, Germany on 29 March 2017.
Strategic Framework
Four domains of the Challenge: 16 subdomains and three key action areas
The Strategic Framework of the Global Patient Safety Challenge depicts the four domains of the Challenge: patients and the public, health care professionals, medicines and systems and practices of medication. The framework describes each domain through four subdomains.
The three key action areas –namely polypharmacy, high-risk situations and transitions of care – are relevant in each domain and thus form an inner circle.
World Patient Safety Day
17 September 2022
Publication
7 March 2024
Global burden of preventable medication-related harm in health care: a systematic review
Medication-related harm is considered preventable if it occurs as a result of an identifiable, modifiable cause and its recurrence can be avoided by appropriate...
7 March 2024
Medication without harm: Policy brief
Patient harm due to unsafe care is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide and most of this harm is avoidable. Harm due to medicines and therapeutic...
20 October 2023
Medication safety for look-alike, sound-alike medicines
Medication errors are a leading cause of patient harm globally. WHO launched the Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm, with the...
20 June 2019
Medication safety in polypharmacy: technical report
As part of the Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm, WHO has asked countries and key stakeholders to prioritize three areas for...
20 June 2019
Medication safety in transitions of care
As part of the Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm, WHO has asked countries and key stakeholders to prioritize three areas for...
5 June 2019
Medication safety in high-risk situations
As part of the Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm, WHO has asked countries and key stakeholders to prioritize three areas for...
15 May 2017
Medication Without Harm
The WHO's Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm brochure outlines the vision and strategic direction of this global initiative...
13 December 2016
Technical Series on Safer Primary Care: Medication errors
Medications are offered by health services throughout the world. However, with substantial and increasing medication use comes a growing risk of harm....
22 February 2014
Reporting and learning systems for medication errors: the role of pharmacovigilance centres
This publication has been developed as part of the “Monitoring Medicines” project (http://www.monitoringmedicines.org/) funded by the Research Directorate...
The Multi-professional Patient Safety Curriculum Guide (2011) was developed to assist in the teaching of patient safety in universities and schools in...
Webinars
Patient engagement tool
The 5 Moments for Medication Safety is a patient engagement tool developed to support the implementation of the third WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm. The tool focuses on 5 key moments where action by the patient or caregiver can reduce the risk of harm associated with the use of medication/s. This tool aims to engage and empower patients to be involved in their own care. It should be used in collaboration with health professionals, but should always remain with the patients, their families or caregivers.
The 5 Moments for Medication Safety tool can be applied at different levels of care and in different settings and contexts. It can be used when patients:
- visit a primary health care facility;
- are referred to another health care facility or to another health care professional;
- visit a pharmacy;
- are admitted to a health care facility;
- are transferred to another health care facility;
- are discharged from a health care facility;
- receive treatment and care at home or nursing home.
1 July 2019
5 moments for medication safety
The 5 Moments for Medication Safety is a patient engagement tool developed to support implementation of the third WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge:...
10 June 2019
5 moments for medication safety: Infographics
The 5 Moments for Medication Safety is a patient engagement tool developed to support implementation of the third WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge:...
1 May 2019
5 moments for medication safety: Pamphlet
The 5 Moments for Medication Safety is a patient engagement tool developed to support implementation of the third WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge:...
13 March 2019
5 moments for medication safety: Flyer
The 5 Moments for Medication Safety is a patient engagement tool developed to support implementation of the third WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge:...
Educational materials
Patient Safety Solutions
Assuring medication accuracy at transitions in care (High5s)
Safe management of concentrated injectable medicines (High5s)
Essential Medicine
Photo stories
This collection of stories from patients, families and health care providers shows how they have been affected by medication errors and harm, as well as other stories on what they have done to prevent such errors and harm from reoccurring.
Global campaign: Medication Without Harm
Everyone, including patients and health care professionals, has a role to play in ensuring medication safety.
Building on the launch of the third WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm,
WHO has developed a campaign to increase public awareness of the safety
issues related to medication use and the need for safer medication
practices.
The campaign also aims to engage key stakeholders in the
development and implementation of strategies for medication safety; and
call for global solidarity and concerted action by all countries and
international partners for reducing severe avoidable medication-related
harm.
The call for action of the global campaign is “KNOW. CHECK. ASK.” This
encourages and empowers both patients and their caregivers and health
care professionals (for example nurses, physicians, pharmacists) to take
an active role in ensuring safer medication practices and medication
use processes including prescription, preparation, dispensing,
administration and monitoring.
In case you have any questions or would like to request InDesign files for local production, please contact patientsafety@who.int .
Events
