Patient safety from the start!
World Patient Safety Day is an opportunity to raise public awareness, foster collaboration between stakeholders and mobilize global action to improve patient safety.
This year, the theme is “Safe care for every newborn and every child”, with the slogan “Patient safety from the start!”, recognizing the vulnerability of this age group to risks and harm caused by unsafe care.
WHO calls for urgent action to eliminate avoidable harm in paediatric and newborn care, building on the efforts of previous campaigns on ‘safe childbirth’, ‘prioritizing patient safety’, ‘health worker safety’, ‘medication safety’, ‘patient and family engagement’ and ‘diagnostic safety’. World Patient Safety Day 2025 aims to drive meaningful improvements and reaffirm every child's right to safe and quality care.
Objectives of World Patient Safety Day 2025
- Raise global awareness of safety risks in paediatric and newborn care in all health care settings, emphasizing the specific needs of children, families and caregivers.
- Mobilize governments, health care organizations, professional bodies and civil society to implement sustainable strategies for safer care for newborns and children, as part of broader patient safety and quality initiatives.
- Empower parents, caregivers and children in patient safety by promoting education, awareness and active participation in care.
- Advocate for strengthening research on patient safety in paediatric and newborn care.
Working together to make health care safer
World Patient Safety Day 2025 will feature a range of activities on and around 17 September, including national campaigns, advocacy events, technical activities and the illumination of iconic landmarks and public places in orange, the well-recognized signature mark of the campaign.
For more information, please refer to the World Patient Safety Day 2025 announcement.
For further questions, please contact: patientsafety@who.int.