ECRI and its affiliate, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), an organization committed to preventing medication errors and driving change in medical practice and pharmaceutical products, are joining leaders around the globe in celebrating World Patient Safety Day on Friday, September 17.
In support of this year’s theme, Safe Maternal and Newborn Care, ECRI and ISMP developed a World Patient Safety Day 2021 Resource Center with free and shareable patient safety, medication safety, and evidence-based medicine resources to reduce the risks and harm that women and newborns are exposed to due to unsafe care.
“We invite others to join us in working toward safer, more affordable, equitable, and accessible care for mothers and babies everywhere,” says ECRI President and CEO Marcus Schabacker, MD, PhD. “These resources will help providers and pharmacists across the entire care continuum.”
Approximately 810 women worldwide die every day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. In addition, around 6,700 newborns die every day, amounting to 47 percent of all under-five deaths. Moreover, about two million babies are stillborn every year, with over 40 percent occurring during labor. In the United States, more women die from childbirth than in any of the 11 other developed countries measured, and access to care varies based on insurance coverage.
“Clearly, more needs to be done to address the systemic racial and socio-economic inequity in the healthcare system to reduce maternal mortality and newborn deaths,” adds Schabacker. ECRI named racial and ethnic health disparities its No.1 concern on its 2021 Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns list; maternal health was the No.2 patient safety concern on the 2020 list.
