Welcome to the 4th Global Ministerial Patient Safety Summit, 2019.
In March 2017, His Excellency, the Minister of Health, Dr. Tawfiq Al Rabiah launched the Saudi Patient Safety Center (SPSC )which is a governmental initiative put forward under the kingdom’s vision 2030 and being operationalized through the National Transformation program.
The SPSC aims is to ensure a safer healthcare for all, by improving patient safety, through creation and dissemination of best practices in patient safety and supporting all levels of healthcare institutions in the kingdom to apply them into their practice. This center is the first of its kind within the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) proactively exchanges expertise with local, regional and international organizations to achieve its aspirations and enhance cooperation between the Kingdom and other countries.
In order to meet this goal, under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz, it gives the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia great pleasure to invite you to participate in the 4th Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety to be held on the 2nd and 3rd of March, 2019, in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The 4th Global Ministerial Patient Safety Summit is the continuation of the Patient Safety Summit series which started in 2016 by the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany with the endorsement of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The 4th Global Ministerial Summit will focus on strategies that will support the integration of patient safety as an essential element in achieving universal health coverage (UHC) in all countries. The aim is to raise awareness, foster contextual applicability particularly in limited resource settings, as well as actively engaging various stakeholders. We look forward to welcoming leading global patient safety experts to partake in fruitful discussions that cover an array of topics, to include: Patient Empowerment, Policy Making and Digital Health and its impact on Patient Safety.
The summit will see the launch of the Jeddah Declaration on Patient Safety, which will highlight “10 “ important recommendations to maintaining the momentum of the global patient safety movement, especially within Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC), through implementation of Digital Health based projects, where patient harm accounts for 2/3 of the global patient harm burden and therefore establish patient safety as a crucial principle integrated on the efforts to achieve universal and safe health coverage.
 
To this goal, the 4th Global Ministerial Patient Safety Summit scientific program will consist of eight main tracks, carefully designed to create discussion and be the stage for patient safety concerns and solutions that are meaningful and impactful across the globe. We are really very honored to have a group of very hardworking people who have put their efforts to make this event a remarkable success.
On behalf of the 4th Global Ministerial Patient Safety Summit Organizing Committee, we wish that everyone will enjoy this event being hosted in the beautiful city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
 
Final remark:
For many years, it was accepted that patient harm was an inevitable collateral damage from healthcare. However, to keep patients safe is a fundamental part of care.
The 4th Global Ministerial Patient Safety is a call for action where international experts engage with political decision-makers, to ultimately generate and promote a global movement for patient safety.
It’s imperative to reflect on the effectiveness of current practices and, collectively move forward, wiser and committed to shape truly safer systems for generations to come.
 
 
Dr. Abdulelah Alhawsawi
President of the 4th Ministerial Summit, Jeddah
SPSC Director General, Saudi Arabia

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