A Pharmacist and World Patient Safety Advocate, Dr. Olumide Obube, has urged governments, health workers, and patients across Nigeria to share responsibility in making healthcare safer.
He stressed that giving patients a voice is key to building trust and preventing avoidable deaths.
Obube made this call in a statement on Wednesday to mark World Patient Safety Day 2025, an annual initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) that draws attention to the urgent need for safer healthcare systems.
He explained that this year’s theme, “Elevate the Voice of Patients: Engage for Safety!”, highlights the importance of involving patients as active partners in their care.
According to him, safe healthcare should no longer be seen as the duty of only governments and professionals. Patients must also be recognized as central stakeholders whose experiences and concerns should shape service delivery.
Obube lamented that unsafe care remains a major public health problem, especially in Nigeria, leading to preventable harm, loss of lives, and public distrust in health systems.
He warned that unless governments, professionals, and patients work together, the cycle of harm will continue.
Citing WHO figures, he said unsafe medical care is among the top causes of death and disability globally. Every year, about 134 million adverse events occur in hospitals, leading to 2.6 million deaths in low- and middle-income countries.
He added that nearly one in ten patients suffers harm while receiving hospital care, with half of such cases being preventable.
He described the financial burden as alarming. Medication errors alone cost the global health system \$42 billion annually, while unsafe surgical care causes at least one million deaths each year.
Obube said children and newborns are particularly at risk. Studies show that in intensive care units, adverse events can affect up to 91.6% of patients, making it vital for parents and guardians to speak up for their children.
He noted that Nigeria mirrors these global realities but faces worse challenges. Research indicates that one in five Nigerian patients suffers harm during healthcare, while medical errors contribute to about 250,000 deaths annually.
He added that maternal mortality remains among the highest in the world—over 800 deaths per 100,000 live births—while neonatal mortality continues to drive under-five deaths.
According to him, these tragedies are worsened by poor health infrastructure, underfunding (still at about 5% of the national budget, far below the Abuja Declaration target of 15%), and severe workforce shortages due to brain drain.
However, he pointed out that success stories, such as Ondo State’s Abiye Safe Motherhood Programme (2009–2016), which reduced maternal deaths by nearly 85%, prove that reforms and patient involvement can save lives if prioritized by policymakers.
Obube identified underfunding, workforce shortages, low health literacy, weak safety culture, communication barriers, and poor accountability as key obstacles to patient safety in Nigeria and worldwide.
He urged governments to increase health funding to at least the Abuja target, and to prioritize maternal, neonatal, and paediatric safety.
He also called for measures to retain health workers through better pay, training, and working conditions, while giving patients structured ways to provide feedback, participate in care decisions, and join hospital quality committees.
Obube recommended building a culture of safety with mandatory training, incident reporting, safety audits, and stronger national data systems on medical errors to guide policy.
He added that government must also improve health infrastructure, enforce regulations, run health literacy campaigns, and strengthen professional monitoring bodies like the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria and the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.
He said health professionals must uphold ethical standards, communicate openly, and report errors instead of hiding them. They must also involve patients in decision-making and respect their perspectives.
For patients and families, Obube advised active participation in healthcare—asking questions, keeping health records, following instructions, joining health education programmes, and giving honest feedback.
He described World Patient Safety Day 2025 as a call to action to end what he called a “silent epidemic” of unsafe care. He stressed that elevating patients’ voices is essential to stronger health systems, better outcomes, and renewed public trust.
“Governments must commit resources, professionals must practice with integrity, and patients must be empowered to play their part. If all work together, safe care will no longer be a privilege but a guaranteed right for everyone,” he concluded.
