World patient safety day: safe care for people living with chronic diseases

Key Takeaways

• In 2025, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) conducted 264,711 medical consultations for hypertension and 219,982 consultations for diabetes worldwide.
  Patient safety for people with non-communicable diseases depends on continuous, regular, and accurate care — even minor treatment disruptions can cause severe complications.
• In Cairo, Egypt, MSF and the Ibrahim A. Badran Charitable Foundation run an integrated diabetes safety programme covering cold chain and transport, patient education, comprehensive care, and operational safety, benefiting more than 200 children.
• In Baalbek-Hermel, Lebanon, MSF found that a lack of refrigeration was compromising insulin storage for a child with Type 1 diabetes, and introduced clay jugs using evaporative cooling as a low-tech, trusted alternative to keep insulin cool without electricity.
• Safe chronic disease care extends beyond the clinic — it depends on how safely patients can manage treatment and medication storage at home.

World Patient Safety Day: safe care for people living with chronic diseases

People living with non-communicable diseases  (NCDs) often require continuous, long-term care. However, in humanitarian contexts, conflict, displacement, and other obstacles can disrupt access to healthcare. This complicates chronic disease management and compromises patient safety. In 2025, MSF conducted 264,711 medical consultations for patients with hypertension and 219,982 consultations for patients with diabetes worldwide.

What is patient safety and why is it important?

Patient safety focuses on delivering care that minimises medical errors and reduces avoidable harm. For people living with non-communicable diseases, patient safety also means ensuring care is continuous, regular, and precise, while reducing disruptions to treatment or medication that could lead to severe complications.

In countries where populations face acute humanitarian crises such as war, displacement, and epidemics, patients often encounter financial hardship alongside transport and security challenges. Weak infrastructure, including frequent power cuts, limited health literacy, and poor access to care, can further impair their ability to stay on treatment.

"Patient safety is especially important for people with non-communicable diseases because these conditions require long-term, regular and accurate care," says Belal Hussein Mohamed, MSF nursing team supervisor in Sudan. "Even minor disruptions in treatment can lead to severe complications."

For MSF teams working in difficult, low-resource settings, this means adapting care to local circumstances while keeping patient safety at the heart of care delivery.

"We may not always have the resources we would like, but we can always strive to make the care we provide safer," says Sarah Cross, MSF quality of care implementer.

Patient safety challenges are not confined to a single setting. Across diverse humanitarian crisis zones where MSF operates, including those affected by conflict, disease outbreaks, disasters, and limited access to healthcare, teams work to adapt NCD care to the realities patients face. Experiences in Egypt and Lebanon demonstrate how this commitment translates into practical actions and solutions tailored to patients' needs and environment for World Patient Safety Day.

Patient safety in practice: Egypt

At a specialised clinic for children living with Type 1 diabetes in Cairo, MSF works in collaboration with the Ibrahim A. Badran Charitable Foundation to integrate patient safety across all stages of care.

The programme adopts an integrated approach centred on four areas: cold chain and transport, empowerment and education, comprehensive care, and operational safety. This includes measures to safely transport and store insulin, alongside educating patients and their families on managing Type 1 diabetes.

Medical follow-up is complemented by psychosocial support, while operational safety measures include reviewing medical records and prescriptions, conducting regular audits, and establishing referral pathways.

Together, these measures embed patient safety across every phase of care, from health education and medical assessment to insulin supply and follow-up. More than 200 children benefit from this programme.

Patient safety in practice: Lebanon

In Lebanon, MSF has for years provided chronic disease care services in Baalbek-Hermel to the entire population, including both Lebanese residents and Syrian refugees. Among the patients visiting our clinics is a seven-year-old child living with Type 1 diabetes, whose case showed us how home conditions can directly impact treatment.

During follow-up, the MSF team found that 70 per cent of the child's glucose readings over two weeks were above the target level.

The child lived in the Baalbek-Hermel region of eastern Lebanon, where summer temperatures can exceed 40°C, and where power outages and limited resources make it difficult to keep medication at a stable temperature.

Upon further investigation, it became clear that the family did not have a fridge to store insulin, leaving it exposed to high temperatures. The appearance of the insulin had also changed, raising concerns about its effectiveness.

This case highlights a fundamental aspect of patient safety: safe care for people living with chronic diseases is not limited to what they receive in a healthcare facility; it extends to how safely they can manage their treatment at home.

Access to medication is only one part of safe treatment; patients also need information and practical solutions that enable them to manage their care safely at home.

In response, MSF introduced clay jugs as an alternative storage solution for patients without access to refrigerators. These jugs rely on the principle of evaporative cooling: water slowly evaporates through the porous clay, helping lower the internal temperature without requiring electricity or specialised equipment. This method builds on a familiar, long-standing household practice in the region, making it a solution that patients and carers understand and trust, thereby encouraging regular and correct use at home.

MSF guidelines on emergency insulin storage also advise keeping it in a cool place away from direct sunlight. When a clay jug is available, insulin can be placed inside to help keep it cool. It can also be wrapped in cloth to insulate it from extreme temperatures. Insulin should never be placed directly in water or allowed to freeze.

The response also included staff briefings and patient education. Patients were advised to contact the clinic if their insulin was exposed to excessive heat or showed abnormal changes, while follow-up involved monitoring blood glucose levels and ensuring storage conditions had improved.

Safe care in all circumstances 

The experiences in Egypt and Lebanon illustrate how patient safety measures can be adapted to varying conditions: from embedding safety across all stages of diabetes care in Egypt to finding a practical insulin storage solution in Lebanon.

As Haruna Yohanna, MSF nursing team supervisor for noma disease, puts it: "Patient safety is not an extra responsibility. It is the foundation of quality care."

At MSF, we believe in safe care in all circumstances.