Fact sheet: Canadian Medication Incident Reporting and Prevention System
October 29, 2013
For immediate release
Ottawa - As part of Canadian Patient Safety Week, Terence Young, Member of Parliament for Oakville, on behalf of the Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Health, today announced funding for the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada (ISMP Canada) to help reduce serious medication incidents in Canada.
"Improving patient safety is an essential part our government's commitment to supporting a quality healthcare system for all Canadians," said MP Young. "Supporting ISMP Canada's work will help prevent medication incidents from happening in the first place, so that patients and families don't suffer needlessly."
"Studying the underlying causes of medication incidents and developing workable solutions to help prevent harm is at the core of our work," said David U, President and CEO of ISMP Canada.
Problems such as confusing labels and packages, and miscommunication can lead to medication incidents that can often be serious and have devastating consequences for patients and families. With Health Canada's support, ISMP Canada will continue to implement and expand the Canadian Medication Incident Reporting and Prevention System (CMIRPS) which collects and shares information on medication incidents in order to prevent other patients from suffering needlessly.
This investment is part of Health Canada's ongoing commitment to improve drug safety. Recently, the Department launched its Plain Language Labelling Initiative, which aims to improve the safe use of drugs by making drug labels and safety information easier to read and understand. Information gathered through CMIRPS assists Health Canada in its work to improve drug labels, which contributes to Canadians' understanding of over-the-counter and prescription drugs and their risks.
See the attached Fact Sheet for more information on funding for CMIRPS.
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