18 Sep 2022

Critical players in the health sector have been called to actively raise awareness of the high burden of medication-related harm that may be due to a number of factors including unsafe medication practices.

Speaking at the World Patient Safety Day commemoration on Saturday, acting Minister of Health, Mr Setlhomo Lelatisitswe said the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic had exacerbated the risk of medication errors and associated medication-related harm due to human factors such as fatigue.

“Medication harm can result in severe patient harm, disability and even death.

It is in this context that Medication Safety has been selected as the theme for this year with the slogan, Medication Without Harm.

The theme is relevant to everyone as we are affected in one way or the other by medication usage,” he said.

Mr Lelatisitswe said the theme for the world patient days were evolving, which was the right step in perfecting the healthcare systems, which would eventually help provide quality and safe healthcare in the country.

He said the message relayed by the theme was important in helping achieve quality healthcare for all as espoused in the National Vision 2036 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number three, which aspired for good health and wellbeing by 2030.

“Let me take this opportunity to urge the entire Botswana healthcare system to ensure that control measures are in place and reinforced during ordering, storage, prescription, dispensing and usage of medication to avoid medication-related harm.

By doing this we can achieve medication safety as per our collective obligations,” he added.

Mr Lelatisitswe said government had partnered with World Health Organisation (WHO) to develop a Patient Safety Strategy that would help guide the implementation of patient safety interventions that encompassed medication without harm.

He said the ministry was expecting finalisation of the strategy so that appropriate interventions to safeguard the health of citizens remained in place.

Kweneng District Health Management Team (DHMT) acting coordinator, Dr John Chambo said statistics indicated that between March 2021 and March this year the occurrence of medication errors at Scottish Livingstone Hospital in Molepolole and Thamaga Primary Hospital was less than 0.01 per cent.

Dr Chambo said the district had put processes in place to prevent or minimise medication errors in the two hospitals.

“Medication errors in pharmacy are recorded and analysed to prevent recurrence and improve the dispensing process.

The findings are discussed at drug and therapeutic committee meetings for recommendation on how best errors can be prevented or minimised,” he said.

Dr Chambo said the team wanted all dispensing points in the region to record and report medication errors, adding that such had to be monitored through quality improvement projects.

He said since 2019, Botswana Medicines Regulatory Authority (BOMRA) had received a total of 352 reports from Kweneng DHMT, 73 of which were adverse effects following immunisations and 279 adverse drug reactions.

World Health Organisation country representative, Dr Josephine Namboze said global estimates indicated that medication errors resulted in three million deaths every year.

Dr Namboze said about one in every four cases of preventable medication harm was clinically severe or life threatening.

“As WHO we are working with member states to implement the WHO Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021-2030.

A regional patient safety strategy and road map are currently being developed to guide its implementation.

Some notable highlights include support to establish and strengthen national medicine regulatory authorities by building capacity and promoting regulatory harmonisation and cooperation,” she said. ENDS