The goal of the Safe Surgery Saves Lives Challenge is to improve the safety of surgical care around the world by defining a core set of safety standards that can be applied in all WHO Member States. The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist and Implementation Manual are now available to download here

Global support for Safe Surgery Saves Lives
A range of professional societies and organizations from countries worldwide have already expressed their support for the creation of a WHO Surgical Safety Checklist and the Safe Surgery initiative. See the list here

Pilot evaluation of the "WHO Surgical Safety Checklist"
The first edition of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist has been evaluated to identify potential problems with implementation and acceptance and to confirm that its use can actually improve surgical safety. Evaluation is underway in operating rooms in the six WHO Regions (read more here)