This report, produced by Sir Liam in his role as Chair of the World Health Organization's World Alliance for Patient Safety, newly established in May 2004, sets out a programme to deliver it's functions based on the deliberations of seminars, discussions at the World Health Organization itself and meetings with expert advisors. It comprises six areas of proposed actions to reduce harm caused to patients on a global scale, including a Global Patient Safety Challenge, patient and consumer involvement, developing a patient safety taxonomy and reporting and learning to improve patient safety and reduce the risks from health care.