World Patient Safety Day 2025 – Theme, Significance, Quotes

World Patient Safety Day date is on September 17, 2025. WHO has introduced the theme for 2025 as to “Safe care for every newborn and every child”, with the slogan “Patient safety from the start!”. The WHO has put forward the theme specifically due to the high rate of childbirth deaths and pregnancy complications.

Also, the WHO pointed out these complications were sometimes preventable and necessary action need to be taken for this. To raise awareness and bring adequate precautions measures, the WHO has encourages all the governmental and non-governmental organizations to hold the notion of safe maternal and newborn care.

World Patient Safety Day 2025 Date –  September 17

In this article readers can get a glimpse on

• History and Objective of World Patient Safety Day
• World Patient Safety Day Theme 2025
• World Patient Safety Day Quiz

Significance of World Patient Safety Day 2025

The safety of the future is in our hands and a tiny carelessness can make a huge mistake. Thus, this year precautions measures for pregnancy and newborn babies are advised. Creating awareness and letting the world know the actual truth regarding the death rates too stands as a priority.

It is recorded that, approximately 810 women and 6700 newborns are endangered and suffering under the plight of loss due to many complex situations which could have been avoided. The medical field is being alert in this fact and ready to support the campaign which pronounces the slogan Act now for Safe and Respectful Childbirth. The necessity to act now for the future is implied by the WHO this year.

In this covid scenario, the death rates have increased immensely due to the loaded covid cases and the endangering situation newborn had to withstand. Thus, World Patient Safety Day fights on the behalf of the newborn and helpless ones.

Objectives of World Patient Safety Day 2025

• To build global awareness on the problems of maternal and newborn security, especially throughout childbirth.
• Involve various stakeholders and utilize efficient and practical approaches to improve maternal and newborn safety.
• For sustainable efforts by all stakeholders to build up efforts and ensure safe maternal and newborn care, especially through childbirth.
• Promote the adoption of best methods at the period of care to limit avoidable dangers and injury to all women and newborns throughout childbirth.

History of World Patient Safety Day 2025

World Patient Safety Day is organized by the World Health Assembly in 2019 for purpose of WHA72.6 on “Global action on patient safety”. It is commemorated yearly on 17 September. The goals of the day are to improve global knowledge of patient safety, improve government action in health care safety, and support global efforts to limit and decrease avoidable harm in the wellness sector and healthcare sector. Every year, a new theme is chosen to cast light on a preference patient safety field wherever development is required to decrease avoidable harm in health care.

Recognizing the important responsibility of harm women and newborns are shown to due to unreliable care, 2021 year’s World Patient Safety Day is committed to the necessity to prioritize and discuss safety in maternal and newborn care, especially about the time of childbirth, while most harm happens. This is particularly relevant in the context of disruption of health services due to the COVID-19 situations.

World Patient Safety Day Theme 2025

World Patient Safety Day, observed annually on September 17, is a global initiative by the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise awareness and drive action on patient safety. The 2025 theme, “Safe care for every newborn and every child,” puts a much-needed spotlight on a population segment that is uniquely susceptible to harm in healthcare settings.

Why this theme is critical:

• Children are not “little adults”: The physical, developmental, and psychological differences between children and adults mean that they cannot be treated with the same standards or methods. They require specialized care, equipment, and medication dosages tailored to their specific needs.
• High vulnerability: Newborns and children are particularly vulnerable to patient safety risks, with studies indicating that adverse events are a significant problem, especially in intensive care units and during complex medical procedures. A single medical error or safety incident can have lifelong, devastating consequences for a child’s health and development.
• Preventable harm: Many of the harms that occur in pediatric and newborn care are preventable. These often stem from issues such as medication errors, diagnostic delays, healthcare-associated infections, and poor communication among caregivers.
• Empowering families and caregivers: The theme also recognizes the crucial role of parents and caregivers. They are often the most knowledgeable about their child’s health and are essential partners in ensuring safety. The campaign aims to empower them to actively participate in their child’s care and to speak up when they have concerns.

Key Objectives of the 2025 Campaign:

The campaign, under the slogan “Patient safety from the start!”, calls for urgent action to eliminate avoidable harm in pediatric and newborn care. The primary objectives are to:

• Raise Global Awareness: Increase global understanding of the unique safety risks in pediatric and newborn healthcare across all settings.
• Mobilize Stakeholders: Encourage governments, healthcare organizations, professional bodies, and civil society to implement sustainable strategies for safer care. This includes designing safer clinical processes, strengthening the competencies of the health workforce, and creating effective systems for learning from errors.
• Promote Research and Innovation: Advocate for more research into patient safety practices specifically in pediatric and newborn care to develop evidence-based solutions.
• Empower Patients and Families: Promote education and active participation of parents, caregivers, and children themselves in their own care to improve safety and outcomes.

By focusing on “Safe care for every newborn and every child,” World Patient Safety Day 2025 aims to drive meaningful improvements and reaffirm every child’s fundamental right to safe and quality healthcare.

World Patient Safety Day Previous Themes

World Patient Safety Day is observed annually on September 17 to raise awareness of patient safety as a global health priority. It was established by the World Health Assembly in May 2019. Each year, the World Health Organization (WHO) selects a theme to highlight a specific area of patient safety.

Here are the themes from recent years:

• 2019: “Patient Safety: A Global Health Priority.” This was the inaugural theme after the day’s establishment.
• 2020: “Health Worker Safety: A Priority for Patient Safety.” The campaign slogan was “Safe health workers, Safe patients,” highlighting the critical role of health worker safety in preventing harm to patients, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• 2021: “Safe maternal and newborn care.” The slogan was “Act now for safe and respectful childbirth,” addressing the significant burden of harm women and newborns face due to unsafe care.
• 2022: “Medication Safety.” The slogan was “Medication Without Harm,” emphasizing the need for robust systems and practices to reduce medication errors.
• 2023: “Engaging patients for patient safety.” The slogan was “Elevate the voice of patients!” underscoring the vital role patients, families, and caregivers play in ensuring safe healthcare.
• 2024: “Improving diagnosis for patient safety.” The slogan was “Get it right, make it safe!” to highlight the importance of accurate and timely diagnosis in preventing patient harm.

Activities and Celebration of World Patient Safety Day

World Patient Safety Day urges to create awareness worldwide to promote the safety and security of pregnant women and newborn babies. During the pandemic time, the activities and celebrations on the day are limited to the virtual stage. The WHO introduces the campaign Act now for safe and respectful childbirth! The WHO also encourages the stockholders and other governmental and non-governmental organizations to come forward to donate and make the future generation a better one with much safety and security. The possible activities for the day are

• You can conduct a webinar on the topic of childbirth and the safety of pregnant women
• You can trace out the records and create awareness to the world regarding the death rates and careless mistakes
• To can highlight the need for developed equipment’s in hospitals and ensure to help them reach out for more facilities
• You can help poor suffering women and children by donation
• The actual interference on this topic can be made through online platforms like social media where you can introduce a doctor or a gynecologist to talk about something related to the day and enlighten the listeners
• Build posters and Cards to build awareness
• Ask the victims to share their stories and create an awareness in the society
• Ask for an experience of a doctor or a person related to the medical field to create awareness for the listeners

World Patient Safety Day 2025 Quotes

• A healthy body is the guest-chamber of the soul; a sick, its prison. -Francis Bacon.
• In health there is freedom. Health is the first of all liberties. -Henri Frederic Amiel
• Those who do not find time for exercise will have to find time for illness. -Earl of Derby
• Life is not merely being alive, but being well. – Marcus Aureli

World Patient Safety Day Quiz 2025

1. When is World Patient Safety Day observed every year?

A) September 10
B) September 15
C) September 17