892 Bulletin of the World Health Organization | December 2004, 82 (12) Editorials Patient safety — a global priority

Patient safety is a global imperative. It has extensive implications for all WHO Member States, for all health-care workers — and for all of us when we become patients. We already know that about 10% of people who receive health care in industrialized countries will suffer because of preventable harm and adverse events (1–5). By 2006 we expect to have a greater understanding of the nature and scale of the problem in developing countries and countries in economic transition. Early indications from a pilot study being carried out suggest that th