PUTRAJAYA: At any one time, a staggering 1.5 million people in the world are estimated to be suffering from hospital-acquired infections.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) data further suggests that one in 10 patients in a developing country risk being harmed one way or another in the process of receiving medical treatment.

In Malaysia, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said in 2012, the public healthcare sector has recorded 1,855 medication-related errors, 991 cases of patients having experienced a fall while in a public health institution, 67 transfusion errors, and 54 cases of adverse outcomes in surgical procedures.

“To make matters worse, the WHO data also found that 50% of medical equipment (globally) at any point in time cannot be used optimally, were in poor stage of usage, or cannot be used at all,” Dr Subramaniam said at the National Healthcare Leaders’ Summit on Patients for Patients Safety Malaysia yesterday.

He said the issue was not only peculiar to developed and semi-developed countries, but also afflicts developed countries.

To combat a rise in these cases, he said the Government has formed the Patient Safety Council of Malaysia in 2003 to look into all aspects of patient safety, including data collection, details of incidents and recommendations to prevent the recurrence of similar cases.

He added that the cause of patient safety-related incidents vary and may not necessarily point to negligence by a healthcare professional.

“If a doctor has exercised all the right things in his clinical process, as would others with similar experience, but despite all that, his diagnosis is not the right one, it is not equivalent to medical negligence.

“Because what we require is that the doctor should have exercised all those precautions which his peer of equivalent qualifications and experience would have done in a similar situation,” he explained.

The two-day summit at Marriott Putrajaya Hotel, organised by non-profit professional organisation Malaysian Society for Quality in Health, also saw the launch of the Patients for Patients Safety Malaysia (PFPSM) network.

On the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-coronavirus (MERS-CoV) which killed a man in Batu Pahat, Johor on April 13, Dr Subramaniam reiterated that the health of the Kampung Bintang villagers would be monitored until next week.

This was in line with a four-week observation period from the date the MERS-CoV victim was diagnosed with the disease on April 8, he said.

Source: The Star Online