One in 10 patients harmed during medical treatment
Patient at a doctor’s office. Over the past few weeks there has been a clamour for the reduction of the fees charged by doctors in private practice. PHOTO| FOTOSEARCH
The burden of illness and high health costs globally are a result of low-quality healthcare, a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Bank has revealed.
Poor quality health services are holding back efforts to improve health across the world. The WHO says that inaccurate diagnosis, medication errors, inappropriate or unnecessary treatment and inadequate or unsafe clinical facilities prevail in all countries.
According to the report, healthcare workers in low- and middle-income countries were only able to make accurate diagnoses one third to three-quarters of the time, and clinical guidelines for common conditions were followed less than 45 per cent of the time.
One in 10 patients is harmed during medical treatment, and around 15 per cent of hospital expenditure in high-income countries is due to mistakes in care or patients being infected while in hospitals.
The situation is worse in low- and middle-income countries where 10 per cent of hospitalised patients acquire an infection during their stay, as compared to seven per cent in high-income countries.
This is despite hospital-acquired infections being easily preventable through better hygiene, improved infection control practices and appropriate use of antimicrobials.
“Quite honestly, there can be no universal health coverage without quality care,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
He said sickness associated with poor quality care imposes additional expenditure on families and health systems.
“Without quality health services, universal health coverage will remain an empty promise,” said Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Ángel Gurría.
“The economic and social benefits are clear and we need to see a much stronger focus on investing in and improving quality to create trust in health services and give everyone access to high-quality and people-centred health services,” he added.
“Good health is the foundation of a country’s human capital, and no country can afford low-quality or unsafe healthcare,” said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, adding that low-quality care disproportionately impacts the poor, which is not only morally wrong, but also economically unsustainable for families and entire countries.
