WPA Highlights Patient Voice at International Health Conference in Indonesia
Hussain Jafri, CEO of the WPA, participated as an international speaker at the Joint Conference of the 7th International Conference on Health Administration and Policy (ICoHAP)and the 3rd International Symposium on Patient Safety and Quality (ISPSQ) held from 4–5 October 2025 in Surabaya, Indonesia.
The conference, themed “Healthcare 6.0: Turning Challenges into Milestones for Safer and Sustainable Care,” brought together leading experts, researchers, and policymakers from around the world to discuss strategies, innovations, and policies for improving patient safety and strengthening health system resilience in the digital era. The event served as a platform for promoting evidence-based policy development, fostering innovation, and advancing collaboration to enhance health system safety and sustainability.
Hussain delivered a presentation titled “Speaking Up for Safety: The Role of Patients in Healthcare Transformation” during the session on Health Technologies Advancement in the 6.0 Industrial Era: A Dilemma in the Cyber World. His talk focused on the global burden of unsafe care, highlighting data on adverse events, diagnostic errors, medication safety, and surgical complications. He outlined the evolution of the patient safety movement, including key WHO initiatives such as the Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021–2030 and World Patient Safety Day.
He emphasized the critical role of patient engagement in improving healthcare outcomes, drawing on examples from WHO’s Patients for Patient Safety program and WPA’s global initiatives to strengthen patient participation. Dr. Jafri also showcased WPA’s educational resources, including animated videos, children’s storybooks, and multilingual awareness materials promoting a culture of safety and patient empowerment.
He concluded that sustainable progress in patient safety requires recognizing patients as equal partners in healthcare design and delivery and embedding their voices in every level of health policy and practice.
Dr. Jafri was invited as a Visiting Fellow by Airlangga University, one of Indonesia’s top universities. During his visit, he also delivered a lecture to medical students and visited several healthcare facilities to discuss ways of strengthening patient engagement in clinical and policy settings.
