The Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare commemorated World Patient Safety Day 2026 at the NIHFW Auditorium in New Delhi with the theme "Safe Care for Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs)". The national observance focused on strengthening patient safety and quality of care across the continuum of NCD care, bringing together policymakers, healthcare leaders, public health experts, clinicians, quality managers, development partners and representatives from States and Union Territories.
Smt. Aradhana Patnaik, Additional Secretary & Mission Director (NHM), reiterated the Government of India's commitment to strengthening patient safety and improving quality of care across the country. She emphasized that patient safety needs to be embedded across the health system, particularly in NCD prevention, diagnosis, treatment and long-term management. Highlighting the growing burden of NCDs, she noted that nearly 63 percent of all deaths in India are attributed to NCDs, making patient safety a critical component of healthcare delivery.
Referring to recent achievements, Patnaik highlighted that 96 percent of immunizations and 90.6 percent of institutional deliveries, as reported under NFHS-6, are being conducted through public health facilities. She stressed the need to strengthen quality and safety practices in patient referrals and continuity of care to ensure timely access to services and improved health outcomes.
Patnaik called upon States and Union Territories to accelerate quality improvement efforts with a clear roadmap to achieve 100 percent NQAS certification of Ayushman Aarogya Mandir–Sub Health Centres (AAM-SHCs) by March 2027, followed by certification of Ayushman Aarogya Mandir–Primary Health Centres (AAM-PHCs). She underscored that a structured and time-bound approach to quality assurance is critical for institutionalizing a culture of patient safety across all care levels.
The inaugural session concluded with the administration of the National Patient Safety Pledge, reaffirming collective commitment to safer care and quality healthcare delivery. The technical program featured a seminar on "Safe Care for Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs)" covering burden of harm in NCD care, strengthening patient safety in NCD services, leveraging digital health, ensuring safe NCD care across clinical pathways with focus on co-morbidities, and promoting medication safety.
The program highlighted State-led innovations and best practices, including Jharkhand's model for comprehensive geriatric diabetic and hypertensive screening, Kerala's Hridhyaragam initiative for NCD prevention and control, and Rajasthan's SETU online referral application. India has been strengthening institutional framework for quality and patient safety through initiatives such as the National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) and the National Patient Safety Implementation Framework.
The event was attended by senior officials including Shri Sibin C., Joint Secretary (Policy); Prof. (Dr) Pragya Sharma, Executive Director, NHSRC; Shri Deepak Soni, Director (NHM); Dr Binod Kumar Patro, Director, NIHFW; and Dr Rajiv Pathni, Advisor (Quality & Patient Safety), NHSRC, along with technical experts and state representatives.