In May 2006, the 57th WHO Assembly supported the creation of an international alliance for patient safety. The Alliance was launched in October 2004. It aims to coordinate and accelerate improvements in patient safety worldwide.
In November 2005 the first workshop on Patients for Patient Safety was held in London with 21 its participants selected through the contest procedure and representing 19 countries.
Jolanta Bilińska – Head of International Cooperation Department at the Łódź Regional Branch of National Health Fund, was Poland’s representative. The major achievement of the workshop was the London Declaration and a schedule for activities of regional champions.
Photo 1 Stories of patients, families and Patients for Patient Health project-involved people were the topics of the workshops in London in 2005.
On 20-24 February 2006 the 2nd World Congress for International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations (IAPO) was held. Also people involved in the Patient Safety project were among its participants. The participants interested in the problem of patient safety were given guidebooks containing current tasks assigned by the World Health Organization and World Alliance for Patient Safety. Several sessions were devoted to an action of a clean world being a safe world, methods of fund raising for non-governmental organizations, foundations and associations, also to the development of methods and tools that facilitate the communication between patients, people representing them and medical staff.
Photo Barcelona – The meeting’s catchword was ‘we can do it together’
In May 2006 a conference arranged by the National Foundation of Patient Safety was held in San Francisco, USA. Almost 2000 its participants from all over the world discussed the patient safety issues in healthcare system.
According to the data presented by Institute of Medicine after its reviewed study of medical records 44 000 people are said to die annually in the USA because of medical errors. The number can be even higher and reach the level of 98 000 people.
Photo: Congress in w San Francisco was an opportunity for establishing relations with patient-representing organizations in the USA.
Wrzesień 2006r. – trekking w Nepalu – higiena rąk w jednej z nepalskich wiosek Ringmo, spotkania z uczniami szkół podstawowych i ich rodzicami.
W rytm piosenki „Happy Birthday to You”, która trwa około 20 sek.- czas uznany przez WHO jako prawidłowy do dokładnego umycia rąk. W szkole w Ringmo, ale i w większości domów nie ma bieżącej wody, podstawowych środków czystości , utrudnia to przestrzeganie higienicznych standardów europejskich.
September 2006 Trekking in Nepal – hand hygiene in Ringmo, one of the Nepali villages, meetings with primary school students and their parents.
December 2006 Integration camps for deaf and healthy children in Poronin owing to a donation made by Ministry of Sports and Archbishopric Priesthood for Deaf People.
Poronin 2006r
The sports and educational programs were very interesting. The children had an opportunity to look down the Kasprowy Wierch and Gubałówka peaks, learn how to ski but they also enjoyed hiking for several hours in the Strążyska and Kościeliska valleys very much. Swimming-pool attractions were activities both the children and their parents liked most. Competition, successes and defeats that are inherent to any sports events proved that children living the world of silence could get along quite well in the world of sounds.
January 2007 London – Meeting of European patient safety champions to discuss a program of workshop in Dublin in September 2007 and qualification criteria for the workshop participants. It was planned that patients, families and health-care providers, doctors and other people related to healthcare systems in Europe would participate.
Photo Margaret Murphy i Rachel Heath
January 2007 Geneva meeting with Julie Storr, a WHO representative responsible for the implementation of the Clean Environment is a Safe Environment project, Prof. Marianna McGuckin of the University in Philadelphia, Rachel Heath, a Project Manager of Patients for Patient Safety, and Jolanta Bilińska, President of Patient Safety Foundation.
Photo Julie Storr, prof. Marianne McGuckin, Jolanta Bilinska
During the meeting in Geneva rules of cooperation in the implementation of the clean environment is a safe environment project were established. During the meeting doctors’ and patients’ rules of work were laid down based on Prof. McGuckin’s studies for the last 10 years.
April 2007 – training in International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) Center in New York – it was possible to organize the meetings owing to the assistance of Hester Kuipers, Manager for Communication in Europe. The meetings in NY were organized by Megan Youmans, Katharine Moore, Director for Worldwide Communication and Alexandra V.Menezes, Director for National and Regional Programs. They discussed a strategy and current level of research on HIV/AIDS vaccine. The research is conducted in Kenya and India, also in numerous laboratories in Europe. It is a task of non-governmental organizations to support research done by university institutions, pharmaceutical companies and biotechnologists as well as provide the public with information about problems of HIV/AIDS infected people. When organizing actions on behalf of people suffering from HIV/AIDS, the organizations such as the European Committee, also individuals such as members of parliament, media, health-care providers and all civilians should be made aware of a necessity to support research on the vaccine.
More information at www.iavi.org
May 2007 – Meeting in Brussels. Jolanta Bilińska was invited to make a speech on WHO Patient Safety policies, also on current tendencies in treating and preventing haemophilia in Poland. It was a good opportunity for discussing haemophilia treatment problems with scientists and experts.
The following persons were responsible for the preparation of the Brussels conference: Hubert K. Hartl, Chairman of European Haemophilia Consortium and Peter Vanovertfeld.
Photo: Discussion with Peter Vanovertfeld on cooperation between Patient Safety champions and organizations of haemophiliacs.
