Stronger Patient Safety Measures Needed to Address NCD Burden

Strengthening patient safety across the healthcare system is essential to addressing the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), a senior government official said on Friday.

Aradhana Patnaik, Additional Secretary and Mission Director (National Health Mission) in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said patient safety cannot be treated as the responsibility of a single programme or department and must instead be integrated into the entire health system.

She emphasised the need to focus on patient safety at every stage of NCD care, including prevention, diagnosis, treatment and long-term management.

Patnaik was speaking at an event organised by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to commemorate World Patient Safety Day 2026, whose theme this year is “Safe Care for Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs)”.

Highlighting the scale of the challenge, she said nearly 63 per cent of all deaths in India are attributed to NCDs, making safe and quality healthcare delivery particularly important.

Patnaik also highlighted recent achievements in public healthcare. According to NFHS-6 data, around 96 per cent of immunisations and 90.6 per cent of institutional deliveries are being conducted through public health facilities.

She said the focus now needs to be on further strengthening quality and safety practices within healthcare institutions, particularly in areas such as patient referrals and continuity of care.

Effective referral systems and continuity of treatment, she noted, are important to ensure that patients receive timely access to appropriate healthcare services and achieve better health outcomes, according to an official statement.

Patnaik also called for a clear roadmap and time-bound action plan to achieve 100 per cent National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) certification of Ayushman Aarogya Mandir–Sub Health Centres (AAM-SHCs) by March 2027.

This would be followed by the certification of Ayushman Aarogya Mandir–Primary Health Centres (AAM-PHCs).

She stressed that a structured approach to quality assurance would be critical to building and institutionalising a culture of patient safety across different levels of healthcare delivery.

India has been strengthening its institutional framework for quality and patient safety through initiatives including the National Quality Assurance Standards and the National Patient Safety Implementation Framework.

The observance of World Patient Safety Day 2026 brought together stakeholders to share experiences and best practices and reinforce the importance of patient safety across the healthcare system.

The initiative also highlighted the need for coordinated efforts to improve the quality and safety of care provided to patients living with NCDs.