Living with a noncommunicable disease (NCD) often means navigating health care for years, sometimes for a lifetime. Safe care matters at every step: from timely diagnosis and clear communication to appropriate treatment, continuity of care, and support for people to manage their condition and live the lives they choose.
For World Patient Safety Day 2026, WHO/Europe shares the experiences of 2 people whose lives have been profoundly affected by NCDs.
People living with NCDs may have repeated contact with different health professionals and services over many years. This makes safe communication, continuity of care, accurate information and meaningful involvement of patients and families especially important. When these safeguards fail, information can be missed, treatment can be delayed and preventable harm can occur.
NCDs, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, are the leading cause of death and disability in the WHO European Region. They account for more than 80% of all death cases, and for about two thirds of deaths before the age of 70.
The following 2 stories of patients with NCDs are very different, but each shows why safe, coordinated and person-centred care matters throughout a person’s life.
A lifetime of adapting to a heart condition: Konstantinos’ experience
Konstantinos was born in Sydney, Australia, with a ventricular septal defect and a cleft in his mitral valve. His health deteriorated rapidly in early childhood and, at the age of 2, he underwent open-heart surgery. The operation saved Konstantinos’ life, but his remaining heart condition had a deep impact on his childhood and adolescence.
Caption: Konstantinos, Greece. Credit: World Patients Alliance.
Growing up in Greece in the 1970s and 1980s, Konstantinos remembers being overprotected and isolated. He could not participate in sport like other children and experienced severe bullying because of his health and the limitations it placed on him. “I experienced bullying as a kid and a teenager and it was brutal,” he recalls.
At the age of 26, after another life-threatening deterioration in his heart health, he had a pacemaker implanted. That made his condition better controlled and more manageable.
Now 56, Konstantinos is married and a father of 2. His experience has also led him to become a patient advocate, sharing what he has learned from a lifetime of living with congenital heart disease.
His experience is a reminder that safe care for chronic conditions is not limited to individual medical procedures. It means supporting people across the life-course and recognizing the physical, psychological and social effects of living with a lifelong condition.
Konstantinos says: “As unfair as it may be, as hard to accept, as painful and traumatic, you stand on your feet and fight. Every time I look at my 2 kids, deep down I feel it was worth it, no matter what’s in store for me in the future”.
Finding the right care and living fully: Lucie’s experience
At 12, Lucie’s life in Czechia should have been about school, friendships and early adventures. Instead, she was navigating daily pain, frequent hospitalizations and the difficult emotional weight of ulcerative colitis (inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)). Barely a teenager, Lucie had to come to terms with the fact that she would have to endure this condition for the rest of her life.
Caption: Lucie, Czechia. Credit: World Patients Alliance.
During her university years, Lucie decided that she wanted more than simply to manage her illness. She sought better treatment, changed doctors and gradually began reconnecting with the life she had withdrawn from.
“I made a decision: chronic illness would not limit my curiosity about the world. I’ve since visited over 30 countries, including challenging destinations like the North Pole, Chernobyl and Iceland. These travels helped me regain confidence, test my limits and build resilience,” says Lucie.
In 2018, after multiple biological treatments and available medications had failed to control her condition, surgery became necessary. Lucie underwent 2 major operations, lived temporarily with a stoma and had her colon removed.
Recovery was not easy, but she made it. Today, Lucie is medication-free, has 2 university degrees and continues her career as an active global health advocate. She contributes to patient-focused materials, clinical publications and educational resources developed with medical professionals.
Lucie says: “To anyone who is newly diagnosed or feeling overwhelmed: you are not alone. You are not ‘less than’. Your dreams are still valid. Life with IBD may not always be easy or fair, but with the right care, support and determination, you can still live boldly, contribute meaningfully and thrive”.
Strengthening patient safety
Konstantinos and Lucie have very different experiences, but together their stories show that safety in NCD care is about much more than avoiding harm during a single procedure. It depends on health systems that communicate clearly, coordinate care over time, listen to patients and families, and respond as people’s needs change.
These patient stories were shared with WHO/Europe by the World Patients Alliance, helping to bring the experiences and perspectives of people living with NCDs to the heart of the conversation on patient safety.
WHO works with national institutions and partners across the WHO European Region to strengthen patient safety, patients’ rights and patient engagement in NCD care to promote person-centred care and ensure that people living with NCDs are heard in decisions that affect their health.