Patient Safety Day: WHO Urges Stronger Safeguards for NCD Care

The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr Mohamed Janabi, has called for stronger patient-safety measures for people living with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) across the African Region and beyond.

Janabi made the call in a statement on Wednesday marking the 2026 World Patient Safety Day, observed globally under the theme "Safe care for noncommunicable diseases" and the slogan "Safe care for life!"

He urged governments, health workers, development partners, patients and families to embed patient safety as a core part of NCD care delivery across the WHO African Region, stressing that expanding access to NCD services must go hand in hand with measures that strengthen safety, improve quality and ensure continuity of care.

According to him, people living with NCDs typically require healthcare over many years, involving repeated consultations, diagnostic tests, medications, referrals and treatment across different levels of the health system. While every interaction with the health system should ideally improve patient outcomes, he warned that it could also expose patients to avoidable harm where safeguards are lacking.

He identified delayed or missed diagnoses, medication errors, adverse drug interactions and inadequate follow-up during treatment as key sources of avoidable harm, alongside poor communication when patients transition between healthcare providers or facilities—an issue he said requires urgent attention from health authorities.

Janabi noted that safety risks can arise at any stage of the care continuum, from diagnosis and treatment to rehabilitation, palliative care and self-management, and said stigma, discrimination and barriers to accessing essential medicines and technologies further compound the risks faced by people living with NCDs.

NCDs remain a major global and regional public health burden, with millions requiring long-term care, treatment, monitoring and support. Janabi noted that NCDs caused at least 43 million deaths worldwide in 2021, and accounted for 37 per cent of all deaths in the WHO African Region in 2019, up from 24 per cent in 2000. He added that nearly two-thirds of NCD deaths in the region occurred prematurely, compared with 41.7 per cent globally—reflecting a disproportionate burden on African populations.

He said NCDs are also a leading cause of long-term disability and functional limitation, with significant effects on the wellbeing, productivity and livelihoods of affected individuals and their families, and cited unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, hypertension, obesity and air pollution as key drivers of the rising NCD burden across the region.

Because NCD care is prolonged and often involves multiple providers and facilities, Janabi said there are correspondingly more opportunities for safety risks to emerge—making safer, better-coordinated systems essential at every stage of a patient's healthcare journey.

He said strong primary healthcare systems can support continuity of care, enable earlier detection of health problems and improve coordination across levels of the health system, and stressed that health workers need practical guidance, reliable supplies and supportive working environments to consistently deliver safe, effective NCD services.

Health systems, he added, should foster environments where workers can report errors and safety concerns without fear of blame, using such lessons to drive improvement.

Janabi pointed to ongoing efforts across the region to expand integrated NCD services, including the WHO Package of Essential Noncommunicable Disease Interventions (PEN) at the primary healthcare level, and PEN-Plus, which extends services for severe and chronic NCDs to first-level referral facilities in underserved communities. He said such approaches support safer care through evidence-based treatment protocols, clear referral pathways and consistent monitoring of outcomes and service quality.

He emphasised that people living with NCDs should be treated as partners—not just recipients—in efforts to make healthcare safer, noting that patients and their families are often best placed to identify where care breaks down or risks emerge. He urged health workers to listen closely to patient experiences, communicate clearly, and involve patients in decisions about their treatment and long-term disease management, arguing that such patient-centred approaches help prevent avoidable harm and build trust in health systems.

Janabi called on member states to strengthen systems for reporting and learning from patient harm, while investing in health-worker training, supportive supervision and the safe use of health technologies. He also urged health professionals to adhere to evidence-based protocols and maintain open communication with patients, caregivers and colleagues.

He encouraged patients and families to speak up, ask questions and voice concerns whenever they are uncertain about any aspect of their care, and reaffirmed WHO's commitment to helping member states strengthen primary healthcare systems and improve the quality and safety of NCD services across the region—including ensuring that patient and family experiences help shape how healthcare services are designed and delivered.

"Every person living with an NCD deserves protection from avoidable harm throughout their health journey, regardless of location, background or circumstances," Janabi said, adding that achieving "safe care for life" will require governments, health workers, patients, families and partners to work together to make healthcare safer at every point of contact.