Professor Suzanne Suggs at the 5th Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety 

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Institutional Communication Service

16 February 2023

Switzerland will host the 5th Patient Safety Global Ministerial Summit, the annual meeting that brings together high-ranking decision-makers and experts to discuss healthcare quality. The Patient Safety Ministerial Summit will be held in Montreux on 23 and 24 February and is part of the activities of the Global Patient Safety Action Plan adopted by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The first day of the summit will focus on contributions from leading international experts in the field; the second day will bring together ministers from around the world. Suzanne Suggs, full professor at USI, Institute of Public Health (IPH) and Institute of Communication and Public Policy (ICPP), has been invited to moderate the meetings. 

Insufficient patient safety is a major and urgent global public health challenge. According to WHO data, so-called «adverse events» caused by a lack of patient safety are among the ten most frequent causes of death and disability worldwide.   

The Patient Safety Global Ministerial Summit was created with the primary objective of raising awareness. The Montreux event will address the key challenges of ensuring sustainable implementation, according to the slogan «Less harm, better care – from resolution to implementation». 

In addition to international experts and Ministers of Health from around the world, the summit will be attended by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and President of the Swiss Confederation Alain Berset