How to participate
- DATE: Thursday, 17 September 2026
- TIME: 11:00 – 12:30 (Washington, D.C. time)
- OTHER TIME ZONES: Buenos Aires, Brasilia (12.00–13.30), Mexico City (9.00–10.30), Bogota, Kingston, Lima, Panama City (10.00–11.30).
- PLATFORM: ZOOM (with registration)
- LANGUAGES: Simultaneous interpretation will be available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Background
World Patient Safety Day, observed annually on 17 September, is a global initiative led by the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise awareness of patient safety and mobilize action to reduce avoidable harm in health care. The theme for 2026 is “Safe Care for Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs)”, recognizing that people living with NCDs—including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases—require continuous, lifelong care across multiple health care settings, creating numerous opportunities for safety risks and avoidable harm.
Globally, approximately one in ten patients experience harm during health care, and nearly half of these events are preventable. Individuals with NCDs are particularly vulnerable due to frequent interactions with health services, complex treatment regimens, multiple medications, and transitions between levels of care. Fragmented services, diagnostic errors, medication-related harm, inadequate follow-up, and inequitable access to quality care can adversely affect health outcomes and increase the burden on health systems.
In the Americas, NCDs account for approximately 6 million deaths annually and are the leading cause of mortality and disability. More than 240 million people in the Region live with at least one NCD, making delivery of safe, quality, and people-centered care a critical public health priority. Strengthening patient safety within NCD services is therefore essential to achieving universal health coverage, improving health outcomes, and advancing resilient, integrated health systems.
About the webinar
In the context of World Patient Safety Day 2026, this regional webinar, jointly organized by the Department of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health (NMH) and the Department of Health Systems and Services (HSS) of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), will bring together key stakeholders from across the Region of the Americas to exchange experiences, good practices, and lessons learned on patient safety in the prevention and management of noncommunicable diseases, promoting safer, higher-quality, and people-centered care.
Target audience
Ministries of Health; patient safety and quality teams; noncommunicable disease (NCD) program managers; primary health care professionals; academic institutions; patient organizations; development partners; and civil society organizations.
To learn more about the World Patient Safety Day 2026 campaign, its key messages, and communication materials, please visit the official campaign webpage.
Objectives
Increase awareness of patient safety risks associated with NCD care.
Promote strategies to reduce preventable harm related to diagnosis, medication use, care transitions, and long-term management of chronic conditions.
Highlight the role of patients, families, communities, and health workers as partners in improving safety and quality of care for people living with NCDs.
Encourage policymakers, health system leaders, and health professionals to integrate patient safety principles into NCD-related policies, programs, and service delivery models.
Agenda
Moderator: Silvana Luciani, Unit Chief, Noncommunicable Diseases, Violence and Injury Prevention, PAHO
- 11:00 a.m. Opening Remarks
- Dr. James Fitzgerald, Director, Health Systems and Services, PAHO
- 11:05 a.m. Highlights of global systematic review and WHO campaign for patient safety for people living with NCDs
- Dr. Alarcos Cieza, Unit Head, Management of NCDs, WHO
- 11:25 a.m. Overview of patient safety in the Americas and PAHO recommendations for safe and quality health systems
- Dr. Gustavo Rossell, Advisor, Integrated Health Services Delivery, PAHO
- 11:45 a.m. Panel of country and organizational experiences with improving patient safety and quality, with a focus on people with NCDs
- Mexico: Dr. Laura Cortés Sanabria, Directorate of Education and Quality in Health, Ministry of Health
- Brazil: National Patient Safety Program
- WONCA: Dr. Maria Pilar Astier, Working Party on Quality and Safety
- International Diabetes Federation: Prof. Pablo Arias, President of the SACA region
- 12:15 p.m. Interactive session of questions and answers with participants
- 12:25 p.m. Closing remarks
- Dr. Ernesto Bascolo, Unit Chief, Primary Health Care and Integrated Services Delivery, PAHO