Tokyo
Manuscrit, non publié à l’époque. Seul le prononcé fait foi. Les notes de travail ont été retirées.
Discours prononcé en anglais. Texte original, non traduit.
Dear Minister Kato,
Dear colleagues,
It is a pleasure and an honor to be here tonight. Let me thank you, Minister Kato, for your hospitality and the kind invitation to this dinner.
We are gathered here in order to advance a cause that I care about deeply: the global strengthening of Patient Safety.
It is gratifying to see so many high-level representatives from all over the world in this room. This underlines the high priority of the “Global Movement on Patient Safety” as well as of this Summit.
A lot has already been done to enhance Quality and Safety of Care – at the international level, but also at the national and local levels.
And a lot remains to be done. We are facing very similar challenges.
In this context, I consider the lack of awareness regarding this topic to be one of the most important issues. Hence, we need a stronger “Patient Safety Culture”.
All stakeholders in the health system need to actively participate in this endeavour.
This is where the future “Global Action on Patient Safety” as well as the Ministerial Summit play a key role. While working together globally, we can learn from one another and advocate effectively to advance our cause.
Together we can create the necessary momentum and visibility to strengthen and enhance the quality and safety of care.
I would like to congratulate everyone that has already put words into action. And I would like to highlight the great work of our colleagues from the United Kingdom, Germany and our host Japan. It is their action that led to the establishment of the “Global Movement on Patient Safety” including this important summit.
Tomorrow, we will jointly commit to working towards a “Global Action on Patient Safety”. This includes the establishment of a “World Patient Safety Day”, recognized by the World Health Organization.
I consider the “Global Action” and the “World Day” to be crucial steps on the way to reach our common goal.
Now, I am looking forward to an excellent dinner and fruitful exchanges in a friendly atmosphere. I wish you all a pleasant evening.
Let’s raise our glass to a strong Global Action on Patient Safety for the years to come!