Int’l Nurses Day: WHO Urges To Invest In Nursing Workforce

News Desk

Islamabad: Nurses and midwives make up more than half of the health workforce in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region, which accounts for 17 percent of the global shortage of 5.9 million nurses, according to a WHO report.

The ‘State of the World’s Nursing 2020: Investing in Education, Jobs, and Leadership’ report states that the region has the second lowest density of nurses among WHO regions, at 15.6 nurses per 10,000 population, ranging from less than one to 81 per 10,000 population.

On May 12, Pakistan will also commemorate International Nurses Day in recognition of nurses’ relentless and priceless contributions to healthcare and health security.

The COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated how crucial it is to have an adequate healthcare workforce when constructing robust healthcare systems. To meet the problems, we must address the health worker gap, particularly among nurses and midwives in our region, said WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Dr Ahmed Al-Mandahri.

Regional Director reiterated that it is essential and important to invest in the nursing workforce as we progress towards achieving universal health coverage (UHC) and other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as those pertaining to education, gender, and economic growth. “We must respect nurses” rights and well-being to secure global health,” he added.

WHO estimates that an additional nine million nurses and midwives are needed if the world is to achieve UHC by 2030. In the Eastern Mediterranean Region, despite high-level political commitment and continued efforts to strengthen nursing, progress has been slow. In 2019, the Regional Committee adopted a call for action to accelerate action to strengthen nursing and midwifery.

Since then, there has been some progress, but for countries to properly manage the growing health concerns, they still need more qualified and competent nurses. To develop a highly skilled and resilient nursing workforce that can adapt to the changing settings and demands of the population and safeguard everyone’s health, countries must prioritise investing in nurses based on quantifiable, transparent, and realistic actions.

“Due to the ongoing crises in several of the nations in our region, our nurses confront a number of difficulties, including working in incredibly unsecure situations. To solve these issues, we need to think creatively and suggest specific solutions,” Dr Al-Mandhari stated.

On International Nurses Day, while acknowledging the work of nurses in our region and beyond, WHO and its partners call on all world leaders to invest in nurses to advance UHC and health security. Nurses deserve our solidarity, support, and recognition.