Sheridan Asked To Spearhead World Health Organization Consumer Initiative On Patient Safety

CHICAGO, Nov. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Susan E. Sheridan, MIM, MBA, Co-founder, Consumers Advancing Patient Safety (CAPS) and Immediate Past President, Parents of Infants and Children with Kernicterus (PICK), has accepted an invitation to lead the consumer action area of the World Alliance for Patient Safety, launched last week by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Washington, DC.

Entitled Patients for Patient Safety, the action area is one of six that together comprise the World Alliance. Others include initiatives that focus on developing a common taxonomy on patient safety, fostering research, establishing guidelines for reporting systems and disseminating solutions to participating nations, as well as a 2005-06 global challenge to reduce injury caused by healthcare related infection. The World Alliance was instigated in response to Resolution WHA55.18, approved by WHO's 55th World Health Assembly in May 2002, which urged member states to pay the closest possible attention to patient safety and establish science-based systems for improving safety and the quality of care. Sir Liam Donaldson, MsC, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, United Kingdom, introduced the resolution and now chairs the World Alliance.

"We're delighted that Susan has agreed to lead the Patients for Patient Safety program," said Sir Liam. "She's a wonderfully articulate voice for patients and families and an inspiring motivator for us all. I'm pleased that Susan was the unanimous choice of the group assembled to plan this aspect of our program, which included patient advocates from several countries."

The first priority of Patients for Patient Safety will be an interactive website, accessible by people from anywhere in the world, followed by the establishment of a basic infrastructure for the inclusion and proactive participation of patients in each of WHO's six regions (Africa, the Americas, South-East Asia, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, Western Pacific). "I look forward to working with the World Health Organization," said Sheridan, "and am particularly pleased that they involved users of healthcare at the ground level in the formation of Patients for Patient Safety. Whether people think of themselves as consumers, patients or citizens, whether they are from developed or developing nations, we all can play a role as partners in keeping our loved ones safe."

About Susan E. Sheridan, MIM, MBA

Sue Sheridan's introduction to safety issues -- and her motivation to make a difference -- came through two grave medical errors experienced in her immediate family, which led to her son Cal's permanent disability from untreated newborn jaundice, known as kernicterus, in 1995 and her husband Patrick's death in 2002 from a failure to communicate a diagnosis of cancer. She is co-founder of Parents of Infants and Children with Kernicterus (PICK), a nonprofit organization established in 2002 to prevent kernicterus and assist those people who have it to reach their full promise as human beings. In 2003, she co-founded Consumers Advancing Patient Safety. Formerly an international banker and a Peace Corps volunteer, Susan now lives in Boise, Idaho, with her children, Cal and Mackenzie Sheridan.

About Consumers Advancing Patient Safety

Consumers Advancing Patient Safety (CAPS) is a consumer-led non-profit organization formed to be a collective voice for individuals, families and healers who wish to prevent harm in healthcare encounters through partnership and collaboration. CAPS envisions a healthcare system that is safe, compassionate and just.

About the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization

The World Health Organization (WHO) is the United Nations' specialized agency for health, and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), founded in 1902, also serves as its Regional Office for the Americas. WHO's objective is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health, defined in WHO's constitution as a state of complete physical, mental and social well- being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, WHO is governed by 192 Member States through the World Health Assembly. PAHO, based in Washington, works with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and raise the quality of life of their peoples.

For more information on Consumers Advancing Patient Safety, contact Mitchell Dvorak, at (312) 274-1301 or via email at mdvorak@patientsafety.org .

For more information on the World Health Organization World Alliance for Patient Safety, contact Daniel Epstein at (202) 974-3459 or via email at epsteind@paho.org .

Consumers Advancing Patient Safety

CONTACT: Mitchell Dvorak for Consumers Advancing Patient Safety,+1-312-274-1301, mdvorak@patientsafety.org ; or Daniel Epstein for WorldHealth Organization World Alliance for Patient Safety, +1-202-974-3459,epsteind@paho.org

Web site: http://www.patientsafety.org/