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A patient safety organization (PSO) is a group, institution or association that improves medical care by reducing medical errors. In the 1990s, reports in several countries revealed a staggering number of patient injuries and deaths each year due to avoidable adverse health care events. In the United States, the Institute of Medicine report (1999) called for a broad national effort to include the establishment of patient safety centers, expanded reporting of adverse events and development of safety programs in health care organizations. The organizations that developed ranged from governmental to private, and some founded by industry, professional or consumer groups. Common functions of patient safety organizations are data collection and analysis, reporting, education, funding and advocacy.

Patient safety organizations may use several approaches to reducing adverse events:

In response to a 2002 World Health Assembly Resolution, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the World Alliance for Patient Safety in October 2004. The goal was to develop standards for patient safety and assist UN member states to improve the safety of health care. The Alliance raises awareness and political commitment to improve the safety of care and facilitates the development of patient safety policy and practice in all WHO Member States. Each year, the Alliance delivers a number of programmes covering systemic and technical aspects to improve patient safety around the world.

At the Fifty-Ninth World Health Assembly in May 2006, the Secretariat reported that the Alliance held patient safety meetings in five of the six WHO regions and 40 technical workshops in 18 countries. Since the launch of the Alliance in October 2004, significant progress was achieved in six areas:

Patients for Patient Safety is part of the World Alliance for Patient Safety launched in 2004 by the WHO. The project emphasizes the central role patients and consumers can play in efforts to improve the quality and safety of healthcare around the world. PFPS works with a global network of patients, consumers, caregivers, and consumer organizations to support patient involvement in patient safety programmes, both within countries and in the global programmes of the World Alliance for Patient Safety.

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