The Global Challenge for Safe Medication is a project with the collaboration of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Education, Research and Evaluation of Safety and Quality in Health at NOVA NSPH. Sónia Dias, NOVA NSPH’s dean, spoke to Netfarma about this project and the many actions NOVA NSPH is involved in to increase the culture of safety in healthcare, providing better results for everyone involved.
This is a path in which the Academy is fundamental, argued Sónia Dias, pointing out that all partners need to be involved, from health professionals to patient organisations, while also stressing the role that pharmacists and pharmacies can play as ‘very important places to promote health through projects that increase literacy and empower citizens, which can lead to better choices and more informed decisions’.
The importance of technology and artificial intelligence was also at the centre of this interview. ‘The digital transition is fundamental to solid change and the work of pharmacists will benefit greatly from digitalisation and tools such as artificial intelligence,’ she said.
Sónia Dias added that the WHO Collaborating Centre for Education, Research and Evaluation of Safety and Quality in Health at NOVA NSPH, coordinated by Paulo Sousa, a professor at NOVA NSPH, was created in 2020 and has now been redesignated for another four years, for the period 2024-2028, which reflects the recognition of the School’s skills in these areas and presupposes a history of collaboration that is recognised and of high value.
As for the objectives, she emphasised that ‘the WHO has ambitious targets. Member states were challenged to reduce preventable serious harm related to medicines by 50 per cent in five years when the initiative was launched.’
Read the full interview here.