WHO Calls on Africa to Step Up Protection for Children and Newborns in Health Care
The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged African countries to intensify efforts to protect children and newborns from preventable harm in health care as the region joined the rest of the world to mark World Patient Safety Day 2025 on Tuesday, September 17.
This year’s campaign, held under the theme “Safe care for every newborn and every child” with the slogan “Patient safety from the start!”, drew attention to the risks faced by the youngest patients, particularly in intensive care units.
WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Mohamed Janabi, said unsafe care continues to claim lives across the continent. “Poor quality care – rather than lack of access – accounts for an estimated 60% of maternal deaths and 56% of neonatal deaths in low- and middle-income countries,” he said.
According to WHO, progress has been recorded, with 21 African countries implementing National Quality Policies and Strategies that integrate patient safety measures such as infection prevention and control. Member States have also endorsed standards aimed at improving care for mothers, newborns and children.
However, Dr Janabi noted that more needs to be done to guarantee safe care at every level of the health system. He pointed to the Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021–2030, which calls for safer clinical processes, better workforce training, and greater involvement of patients and families.
To accelerate progress, WHO is calling on governments to raise awareness of safety risks in paediatric and newborn care, mobilize health managers and civil society to adopt sustainable safety strategies, empower parents and caregivers through education, and invest in research and innovation.
“The vision is a world in which no patient is harmed in health care, and everyone receives safe care, every time, everywhere,” Dr Janabi said.
World Patient Safety Day, first observed in 2019, is marked annually on September 17 to promote safe, high-quality and people-centred care as part of universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals.