World Patient Safety Day 2026: Sri Lanka advances safe care for life

Sri Lanka joined countries around the world in marking World Patient Safety Day on 17 September 2026, reaffirming its commitment to safe, high-quality and people-centred health care throughout the life course.

The 2026 theme, “Safe care for noncommunicable diseases”, and campaign slogan, “Safe care for life!”, highlight the safety risks faced by people living with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases often require complex, continuous care over many years. Each interaction with health services, from prevention and diagnosis to treatment, rehabilitation and long-term management, can present a risk of avoidable harm. NCDs account for 74% of deaths worldwide. Globally, 1 in 10 patients experiences harm in health care, and around half of this harm is preventable.

World Patient Safety Day 2026 calls for action in five priority areas:

• Engaging people with lived experience and civil society
• Strengthening prevention and risk assessment
• Ensuring early detection, accurate diagnosis and integrated management
• Improving access to and the safe use of medicines and medical devices
• Strengthening coordination, continuity and transitions of care
  

In Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Health and Mass Media led the national observance, bringing together senior government officials, health professionals, development partners, academics and patient safety advocates.

Dr Anil Jasinghe, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Mass Media in Sri Lanka speaking at the national commemoration of World Patient Safety Day 2026 in Colombo.

A key milestone was the launch of the Sri Lanka Healthcare Accreditation Standards, which will strengthen quality assurance, clinical governance and continuous improvement across health-care institutions. The event also recognized initiatives by health-care institutions to reduce avoidable harm and improve care for people living with NCDs.

The official launch of the Sri Lanka Healthcare Accreditation Standards at the World Patient Safety Day commemoration in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 17 September 2026. 

At the event, the WHO Representative to Sri Lanka emphasized that patient safety is both a clinical responsibility and a health-system priority and is fundamental to public trust. He called for safety to be embedded throughout the care pathway and for people, families and communities to be empowered as partners in care.

The national observance comes at a time of broader efforts to strengthen the systems, standards and capacities that underpin patient safety across Sri Lanka. Over the past year, WHO has worked with the Patient Safety and Accreditation Bureau of the Ministry of Health to advance patient safety and quality of care. This collaboration contributed to the development of the National Policy on Infection Prevention and Control 2026-2035, the National Strategic Plan on Healthcare Quality and Safety 2026-2030, and the National Action Plan on Medication Safety 2026-2030. Together, these instruments provide a coordinated framework for safer health services.

Strengthening accreditation has been another important area of work. As part of efforts to develop a nationally owned accreditation programme, WHO facilitated two study visits to the Healthcare Accreditation Institute of Thailand for 15 Sri Lankan officials. The visits provided practical learning on governance, standards, assessment, risk management and phased implementation across levels of care.

Moving from standards to practice also requires a strong culture of safety. To help translate standards into safer practice, a leadership programme delivered by SingHealth, Singapore with WHO’s support focused on strengthening safety culture. A strong safety culture enables health workers to identify risks, speak up and report incidents without fear of blame.

Nursing officers and health professionals participating in the World Patient Safety Day national commemoration in Sri Lanka on 17 September 2026.

Learning from patient safety incidents is another important part of this wider effort. WHO is supporting the development of a digital patient safety incident reporting and learning system, which will support timely data collection and analysis, help identify patterns of risk, and enable health-care institutions to translate lessons from reported incidents into preventive action.

WHO is further engaging with the Patient Safety and Accreditation Bureau for capacity-building in clinical audits, the development of master trainers in health-care quality and safety, strengthening medication safety practices, and the work of the National Healthcare Accreditation Council and its technical subcommittees.

A healthcare professional from Divisional Hospital, Meeravodai, presenting on new practices introduced to improve patient safety at the national commemoration in Colombo.

Much of this work is supported through the Global Patient Safety Collaborative, a strategic initiative established by WHO and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. For Sri Lanka, the initiative provides a platform to connect global expertise with national priorities and translate strategic plans into institutional capacity and action.

This progress at country level is also contributing to regional action. At the Seventy-ninth Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia, Sri Lanka proposed a regional resolution entitled “Strengthening Patient Safety and Blood Safety to Advance Safer Health Systems and Universal Health Coverage in the WHO South-East Asia Region”. The Resolution recognizes the links between patient safety, blood safety, quality of care and Universal Health Coverage. The country’s experience can contribute to regional learning, while lessons from other Member States can further inform national efforts in areas such as accreditation, incident reporting, infection prevention and control, patient engagement, and overall quality improvement.

As Sri Lanka advances towards universal health coverage, patient safety will remain essential to improving health outcomes and building resilient, people-centred health systems. Through sustained national leadership and collaboration, the country is taking important steps to make safe care for life a reality for everyone, everywhere.