World Patient Safety Day 2026 Focuses on Safe Care for Chronic Disease

World Patient Safety Day, observed annually on September 17, brings together governments, health organizations and communities around a shared goal: improving patient safety and reducing avoidable harm in health care. For 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) has chosen to focus the campaign on safe care for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), under the slogan “Safe care for life!”

Noncommunicable diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes, remain the leading cause of death worldwide. According to the WHO, NCDs killed more than 43 million people in 2021 alone, accounting for roughly three-quarters of all non-pandemic-related deaths globally that year. Cardiovascular diseases accounted for the largest share of those deaths, at 19 million, followed by cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes. Given the scale of this burden, the WHO’s decision to center this year’s campaign on NCD care reflects just how many people are affected by the safety of long-term, chronic disease management.

Why Chronic Disease Care Carries Unique Safety Risks

According to the WHO, people living with NCDs typically require continuous care across multiple settings and over long stretches of time, which creates numerous points along the way where safety risks can emerge. These risks aren’t limited to a single moment, like a hospital stay or a single office visit. They can arise anywhere along the continuum of care: during prevention efforts, at the point of diagnosis, throughout treatment, in long-term disease management and even in the self-care patients manage on their own between medical visits.

The WHO notes that these risks are also shaped by broader health system challenges and social determinants of health, meaning safety isn’t just about what happens inside a clinic or hospital. Improving safety in NCD care, the organization says, requires addressing the complexity of ongoing care, strengthening health systems through a primary health care approach, and tackling the wider social and structural factors that can increase a person’s risk of harm.

Centering the Voices of Patients Themselves

A key theme of this year’s campaign is the meaningful involvement of people with lived experience of NCDs in shaping how care is designed and delivered. To help guide the campaign’s development, the WHO convened a working group in early March 2026 that brought together 12 experts representing every WHO region, including both people with lived experience of chronic illness and health workforce professionals. Among the key insights that emerged from that discussion: recognizing people living with NCDs as partners in their own care, rather than solely as patients receiving it, and framing safe care as something relevant to everyday life, not just something that happens within formal health care settings.

Campaign Objectives and Global Activities

The WHO has outlined four main objectives for World Patient Safety Day 2026:

• Raising global awareness of the patient safety challenges tied to NCD care
• Promoting meaningful engagement of people living with NCDs and their communities in identifying risks and shaping solutions alongside health practitioners and policy makers
• Encouraging governments and health systems to integrate patient safety principles into NCD-related legislation, policy and programming, with an emphasis on strengthening primary health care
• Supporting health workers in reinforcing core safety practices, including safer diagnosis, medication safety and meaningful patient engagement.

Activities tied to the campaign will take place around the world on and around September 17, including awareness campaigns, policy dialogues, technical events and community-led initiatives. As in previous years, landmarks and public spaces around the world will be lit in orange on the day itself, a visual symbol of global solidarity around the campaign's goals.

The WHO has invited governments, health organizations, advocacy groups and members of the public to take part in the day, whether by organizing local events or joining existing campaign activities.