VIJAYAWADA: Highlighting that preventing medical harm is as critical as administering treatment itself, Health Minister Y Satya Kumar Yadav announced on Wednesday that awareness programmes and safety audits will be conducted across all district and teaching hospitals on September 17 to mark World Patient Safety Day.
In an official statement released in Amaravati, he emphasised that patient safety rests on a four-pillar framework: early disease detection, timely intervention, strict medication safety, and continuous post-treatment monitoring.
Under the State’s flagship Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD 4.0) initiative, health screenings have been completed for over 2.83 crore citizens aged 18 and above.
The population-scale drive identified high blood pressure in 59.38 lakh individuals and diabetes in 48.32 lakh people, while flagging suspected cases of oral, breast and cervical cancers for immediate secondary testing and oncological care.
To eliminate treatment gaps and prevent drop-offs among chronic care patients, the state has linked diagnostic data, clinical prescriptions, and follow-up schedules directly into the ‘Sanjeevani’ digital healthcare platform.
Digitising every patient’s medical history, the Minister noted, ensures health security and continuity of care across all primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare facilities.
Addressing clinical protocols, Satya Kumar directed hospital administrators and medical staff to strictly enforce medication safety measures. He urged doctors and nurses to counsel patients against arbitrary dosage changes or abrupt discontinuation of prescribed drugs, while encouraging families to actively participate in the recovery process.
District health officials have been instructed to conduct periodic safety audits in government hospitals to rectify operational bottlenecks, streamline patient registration, and train nursing staff on error-free drug administration.
