Dear HIFA colleagues,
It's a great opportunity for all of us to voice our opinions and concerns about ‘unsafe care’ and ‘Patient safety in NCDs’. I already responded to Q 1 and 2 of the 4 guiding questions in my previous HIFA global discussion forum.
[see: https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/spotlight-patient-safety-and-ncds-10-q2... ]
1. What is unsafe care and what is its local and global impact?
2. What are the main causes of unsafe care for people living with NCDs? To what extent is access to reliable healthcare information a determinant of patient safety?
3. What can be done to better understand and improve health systems for safer care for people living with NCDs?
4. How can we better support patients and primary and facility-based health workers to deliver safe care?
In response to Q3. What can be done to better understand and improve health systems for safer care for people living with NCDs?
Addressing Patient Safety requires a multisectoral approach; therefore, investing in strengthening the health systems is crucial.
NCDs require a long-term care strategy, from empowering patients with reliable information on risk factors to prevent NCDs, seeking care, awareness of their treatment, follow-up after treatment, and multiple referrals (specialities and/ or to a higher level health facilities).
In response to Q4. How can we better support patients and primary and facility-based health workers to deliver safe care?
Several decades ago, I served in a rural, remote mission hospital which, due to a shortage of doctors, required multi-skilled responsibilities. I performed surgeries in obstetrics, gynaecology, and anaesthesia.
I now realise why so many women came to the hospital at late stages of breast and cervical cancer, because, in those days, digital/media communication on advances in scientific research was inadequate.
With recent advancements in digital technology, are we better informed with reliable health information or misinformation or disinformation?
In health facilities in LMICs even today, we see patients with delays in seeking care, late diagnosis, inappropriate treatment, and often inadequate follow-ups, referrals, and medication errors at home.
Therefore, it's crucial to provide updated evidence-based protocols and patient-health provider communication skills at the primary and community level of health facilities.
Best wishes
Dr. Meena Nathan Cherian, MBBS, MD (Anaesthesia)
(Former WHO Lead Emergency and Essential Surgical Care Program, Geneva, Switzerland).
Director, Global Health New Challenges: Geneva Foundation for Medical Education & Research, Switzerland. <http://www.gfmer.ch/surgery/cancer.htm> www.gfmer.ch/surgery/cancer.htm (NSA-WHO)
Senior Advisor Global Action International Society of Geriatric Oncology Permanent Committees - SIOG <https://siog.org/about-us/governance/leadership/permanent-committees/>
Senior Advisor, International College of Surgeons-Global Affairs. <https://icsglobal.org/> https://icsglobal.org/ (NSA-WHO)
Adjunct Prof.The Chinese University of Hong Kong,Shenzhen,China. <https://med.cuhk.edu.cn/en/teacher/371> https://med.cuhk.edu.cn/en/teacher/371
WHO-HIFA Essential Health Services; mHEALTH-INNOVATE. <http://www.hifa.org/> www.hifa.org (NSA-WHO).
Geneva, Switzerland. <mailto:+41%20763837253> +41 763837253(m); cherianm15@gmail.com
HIFA profile: Dr Meena Nathan Cherian was a professor of anaesthesiology from Christian Medical College Hospital, Vellore, India. She trained, worked, and taught in several countries, USA (Johns Hopkins Hospital), Southeast Asia and Africa. She worked at the World Health Organization Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland, as the Emergency and Essential Surgical Care Program Lead where she created the ‘surgical care’ program resulting in the first World Health Assembly Resolution on ‘Emergency and Essential Surgical Care and Anaesthesia in the context of Universal Health Coverage’. Currently she works as the Director, Global Health New Challenges program, Geneva Foundation for Medical Education and Research, Geneva, Switzerland; Adjunct Prof. The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China; Senior Advisor, Global Action, International Society of Geriatric Oncology, Switzerland; Member of the WHO-HIFA Working Group on Essential Health Services and COVID-19; and HIFA mHEALTH-INNOVATE Working Group. She is a member of the HIFA Steering Group. https://www.hifa.org/support/members/meena cherianm15 AT gmail.com