A safer way to label syringes

On medication without harm

Unsafe medication practices and medication errors are a leading cause of injury and avoidable harm in healthcare worldwide. WHO's Medication without harm policy brief reports that unsafe medical care causes preventable death and disability around the globe, and that most of this harm is avoidable [1].

Medication-related harm accounts for nearly half of all preventable harm in healthcare [1]. Studies show that about 1 in 20 patients (5%) experiences preventable medication-related harm, with roughly a quarter of these cases being severe or potentially life-threatening [1][2]. The burden is nearly twice as high in low- and middle-income countries (about 7%) as in high-income countries (about 4%) [1]. Globally, the cost associated with medication errors has been estimated at US$42 billion every year [1][3].

Errors during the medication process

Medication errors can occur at several stages of the medication-use process. WHO identifies five core stages: prescribing, transcribing, dispensing, administration and monitoring [3]. (The WHO policy brief further distinguishes ordering, storage and preparation within this process [1].)

• Prescribing — mistakes made by the prescriber when ordering a medicine. Contributing factors include poor legibility and incorrect or incomplete patient information [1].
• Transcribing — errors from communication discrepancies between the medication order and what was actually recorded in the patient's documentation [1].
• Dispensing — deviations between what was ordered and what was given. Contributing factors include high workload, mix-ups between "look-alike, sound-alike" (LASA) medicines, and communication problems [1].
• Administration — discrepancies between the physician's directions for administering the medicine and how it was actually given to the patient [1].
• Monitoring — failure to verify that a prescribed regimen was correct, or failure to assess the patient's response using appropriate clinical or laboratory data [1].

Globally, most errors occur at the prescribing stage (53%), followed by the monitoring stage (36%); administration errors have been reported with an overall prevalence of around 22% [1].

Strategies to address medication errors

Medication errors rarely result from a single person's mistake. They usually arise from weak medication systems and human factors such as fatigue, poor environmental conditions and staff shortages [1][3]. That is why WHO's third Global Patient Safety Challenge — "Medication Without Harm" — aims to reduce severe, avoidable medication-related harm by 50% within five years [3]. Its strategic framework targets four domains — patients and the public, health and care workers, medicines as products, and systems and practices of medication — together with three priority action areas: high-risk situations, polypharmacy, and transitions of care [1][3].

• Build a safety culture and report errors — leadership commitment to safety and effective error-reporting systems turn mistakes into learning opportunities and system improvements [2].
• Standardise and clarify labelling — clear, unambiguous labels, "tall man" lettering and high-alert labels for look-alike/sound-alike medicines reduce mix-ups. LASA products are involved in an estimated 6–14% of all medication errors [1][4].
• Use technology and standardised charts — electronic prescribing, computerised systems and standardised medication charts (with limited use of abbreviations) help reduce prescribing and transcribing errors [1].
• Prioritise high-risk situations — maintain a list of high-alert medicines and combine multiple error-reduction strategies for them [1][5].
• Review polypharmacy — structured medication reviews and deprescribing reduce harm in patients taking five or more medicines [1][6].
• Reconcile medicines at transitions of care — pharmacist-led medication reconciliation ensures accurate information moves with the patient between care settings [1][7].
• Engage patients and families — well-implemented patient engagement can reduce the burden of harm by up to 15% [2].
• Train and support health workers — building competencies and improving teamwork and communication reduce human-factor errors [2].

CheckCLIP: a simple safeguard at the point of administration

Among these strategies, standardised labelling and clear identification of medicines are among the most direct ways to prevent wrong-drug and wrong-dose errors — especially at the administration stage, where a clinician draws up and injects a medicine [1][4].

CheckCLIP is designed for exactly this moment. It safely attaches the ampoule to the syringe so the clinician can visually cross-check the drug and dose at the bedside — without obscuring the syringe's incremental dosage marks.

• Enables visual cross-checking of drug and dose details
• Keeps syringe increments clearly visible (no obscured markings)
• Prevents sharps injuries from opened glass ampoules
• Provides a clear indication of drug expiry dates
• Avoids accidental ampoule swaps and syringe swaps

In WHO's framework, CheckCLIP is a point-of-care safeguard that supports the "medicines" and "systems and practices of medication" domains — reinforcing the standardised, clear-labelling approach WHO recommends for high-risk and look-alike/sound-alike injectable medicines [1][4][5].

Check out the following video on usage instructions

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Health information disclaimer

While we strive to provide accurate and helpful information, this blog post is not meant to replace professional medical advice.

Rely on official medical sources when seeking definitive answers about health conditions.

References

1. World Health Organization. Medication without harm: policy brief. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2023. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240062764 (accessed 12 September 2026).
2. World Health Organization. Patient safety [fact sheet]. 11 September 2023. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/patient-safety (accessed 12 September 2026).
3. World Health Organization. Medication Without Harm [initiative page]. https://www.who.int/initiatives/medication-without-harm (accessed 12 September 2026).
4. World Health Organization. Medication safety for look-alike, sound-alike medicines. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2023. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240058897 (accessed 12 September 2026).
5. World Health Organization. Medication safety in high-risk situations: technical report. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2019. PDF
6. World Health Organization. Medication safety in polypharmacy: technical report. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2019. PDF
7. World Health Organization. Medication safety in transitions of care: technical report. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2019. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/325453

Note: WHO references are cited for factual and educational context only. Citation of WHO material does not imply that WHO endorses any specific organisation, product or service.