Evangelina Vazquez Curiel - World Patients Alliance

Evangelina Vazquez Curiel is a graduate of the Faculty of Science at the Autonomous University of Mexico in the career of Physics. She has a Masters in Materials Science and completed a PhD in Science. In 1995, she had her first child. During birth and postpartum both Evangelina and the baby suffered several adverse events, including healthcare-acquired infection.

In 1996, she began working for patient safety, promoting prevention of healthcare-acquired infection in Mexico City. In November 2005, she took part in the inaugural global workshop of the patient group Patients for Patient Safety (PFPS) in England, where the Declaration of London was written. Here she became a WHO patient safety champion and part of the founding PFPS team.

Since 2006, Evangelina has participated in global, regional and national workshops and events on patient safety. In 2008, she founded the Mexican PFPS Network, which she directs. The Pan American PFPS Network, of which she is a General Coordinator, began that same year. In 2009, she represented the patient’s voice in the global launch of the campaign “Save Lives: Clean Your Hands." She has written articles on patient participation, patient safety and the prevention of healthcare-acquired infection. She is a co-author of books including Nursing and Patient Safety and Handbook for the Prevention and Control of Infections Associated with Health Care. She collaborated on the chapter “Patients for Patient Safety" in the recently published Textbook of Patient Safety and Clinical Risk Management. In 2020 she was a member of the external peer review group for the WHO rapid advice guide Use of chest imaging in COVID-19. She has been a member of the Global Advisory Group for WHO Patients for Patient Safety since 2014.