Four hospitals in Oman gain WHO award

Muscat: Four hospitals were awarded the Patient Friendly Hospital Initiative, during the launch of the World Health Organisation's Third Global Challenge on Patient Saftey, the Ministry of Health announced.

"Dr. Rawya Al Busaidi, Minister of Higher Education, patron of the ceremony, honoured the hospitals that have won the Patient Friendly Hospital Initiative," The Ministry of Health said.

"The hospitals are Nizwa Hospital, Al Rustaq Hospital, Starcare Al Mawleh Hospital, Al Raffa Hospital, " added the ministry.

The World Health Organization's Global Challenge titled 'Medicines Without Damage' is a program aimed at improving health systems.The regional launch occurred at Sultan Qaboos University.

"Patient safety revolves around reducing the risk of injury associated with health care," said Dr. Mahmoud Fikri, WHO Regional Director.

"Studies have shown that 18% of admissions to hospitals in the region are linked to damage to patients as a result of medical interventions," Fikri added.

"The cost of damages resulting from the unsafe use of medications is two billion dollars," said Dr. Ahmed Al Mandheri.

"The World Health Organisation has set up a vision to reduce damages caused by the unsafe use of medications by 50% over the next five years, and that 34 per cent of adverse events are related to pharmaceutical and treatment errors. All of which could have been prevented and avoided" added Al Mandheri.

"Participating states today are invited to sign a pledge committing themselves to work towards achieving the purposes of the Third Global Challenge on Patient Saftey," said Dr. Fikri.

The Ministry of Health will brief participants on a model of a national plan on drug safety as well as review the challenges and success stories.