Established by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019, 17 September is observed annually as World Patient Safety Day, with the aim of raising awareness of the risks, errors, and preventable harm associated with healthcare. Each year, the WHO selects a specific theme, and for 2025 the focus is "Safe Care for Every Newborn and Every Child."

As part of this global initiative, the WHO has encouraged institutions around the world to create an "orange wave" by illuminating landmark buildings on the evening of 17 September. Once again, the iconic Jet d'Eau in Geneva has been illuminated in orange as a symbolic gesture. In response to this call, the Aveiro Local Health Unit illuminated the façades of the Aveiro, Águeda, and Estarreja Hospitals, while the University of Aveiro and its School of Health Sciences also joined the initiative by lighting up their buildings in orange.

The timing of this initiative was particularly significant, as it followed the welcome of the second cohort of students enrolled in the Integrated Master's Degree in Medicine at the University of Aveiro.

This symbolic action therefore celebrates both patient safety and the University's medical programme, which integrates innovative medical education with close links to clinical practice and research through the Egas Moniz Health Alliance (EMHA) Academic Clinical Centre and its partner healthcare institutions.

Together, healthcare professionals, educators, researchers, students, children and their caregivers, families, civil society, and all stakeholders within the Portuguese National Health Service reaffirm their shared commitment to advancing patient safety, because together, we can always do better.

Margarida França, President of the Board of Directors, Aveiro Local Health Unit (ULSRA)

Professor Artur Silva, Vice-Rector, University of Aveiro and President of the EMHA Academic Clinical Centre

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