Princess-Ekwi Ajide Abuja
World Health Organization, WHO, led other stakeholders in the health sector on a walk in Abuja to commemorate the 2022 World Patient Safety Day.
The walk which took off and culminated at the Federal Ministry of Health had participants dancing to several musical beats.
Addressing journalists, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, cautioned Nigerians against self-medication, saying that it portends more danger than the ailment itself.
The Minister, represented by the Director of Hospital Services, Dr Adebimpe Adebiyi, said the essence of the walk was to sensitise the populace that grabbing paracetamol or panadol from the pharmacy for headache without a knowledge of the underlying condition is not enough as one needs to be examined by healthcare professionals and diagnosis made so that the correct medication can be given.
The Minister further said that the walk is also to sensitise the country that healthcare professionals too, carry out best practices not just the usual and ensure that erring healthcare professionals, are sanctioned by regulatory bodies.
A Community Physician and Patient Safety Consultant for the Federal Ministry of Health, Professor Stephen Abah, on his part, disclosed that the government is currently drafting policy on patient safety for Nigeria.
According to him, patient safety is taking center stage globally especially with the theme of this year’s celebration focused on medication hence the need to educate Nigerians on the danger inherent in this kind of practice.
He said one needs to know the drugs one is consuming, the consequences and empower patient’s families so that they can ask questions on the kind of drugs and medications they are given.
Also, the Patient Safety Ambassadors, of a Patient Safety Movement, Ehi Iden, said medication safety has become a critical issue globally since it is one of the leading causes of death in healthcare.
He said that 50 percent of healthcare deaths are from the medication errors as the case is under reported and the walk is a means of creating advocacy, awareness and engage stakeholders in the possible ways to manage medication safety.
