Warm greetings to all nurses and health workers joining this event. My deep appreciation for Lord Nigel Crisp and Sheila Tlou for driving this initiative, and the Burdett Trust for making it possible by providing financial resources.
Allow me to first honour the courage and commitment nurses have shown throughout the COVID-19 response, and which they continue to demonstrate amid a new wave of infection, witnessed in several parts of the world.
You are an inspiration to humanity. WHO will continue to pull out all stops to ensure that you can get your job done safely and effectively in delivering health care, in health care prevention and health care promotion. Investment in the nursing profession will help in achieving universal health coverage (UHC).
Three years ago, the Nursing Now campaign set out to raise the status and profile of nursing worldwide. And how did it plan to do so?
The campaign aimed to improve perceptions of nurses, enhance their influence, and maximize their contribution to ensuring that everyone, everywhere can access the services they require to stay healthy and well.
It highlighted the need to invest in nursing education, improve employment and working conditions, and strengthen leadership at all levels of the profession to achieve UHC.
The campaign was very much aligned with the vision of the Region’s Decade for Health Workforce Strengthening, which was launched in 2015, and which is a key plank of the Region’s Flagship Priority on achieving UHC.
Since 2015 the Region has increased the availability of doctors, nurses and midwives by one fifth.
Almost all countries have met and surpassed the original WHO threshold of 22.8 health workers per 10 000 population.
Action to enhance nursing education and the knowledge and skills of in-service staff has delivered Region-wide progress that has been critical to the pandemic response.
The voice of a health cadre that is 95% under the age of 55 continues to grow, with several countries considering or creating a nursing and allied health directorate within the ministry of health. The value they bring is being recognized.
Today, we mark the end of the Nursing Now campaign – a success by any measure. Let us resolve to build on its legacy, and continue to celebrate, support and strengthen the nursing workforce, with a focus on the theme of WHO’s International Year of Health and Care Workers – “Protect. Invest. Together”.
I have three key messages:
First, all stakeholders must ensure that health workers are supported, protected, motivated and equipped to deliver safe health care at all times, including by providing them first access to COVID-19 vaccines.
Regulations on working hours and minimum wages must be respected and every effort must be made to protect them from stigma and violence. We must care for those who care for us.
Second, all countries must sustain and scale up investments in health workforce strengthening, especially on nurses.
Amid the intense fiscal pressures imposed by the pandemic, additional nurses must be recruited and trained, and existing staff should be provided professional development opportunities and be included in decision-making.
Investments from international financing institutions, bilateral and philanthropic partners must continue to be mobilized to strengthen the response and advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Third, all stakeholders must continue to advocate for and highlight the critical role nurses play in protecting health and keeping people safe.
Nurses and midwives are central to the delivery of quality primary health care for all. They are the backbone of health system resilience and must be accorded the highest respect.
The pandemic has underscored the critical value to all countries of investing in and building a robust health workforce able to ensure that every community, everywhere can access the full range of health services they require, even in emergencies.
I congratulate the Nursing Now campaign on its achievements and will do my best to accelerate progress in this crucial area of work, for a South-East Asia Region with better health, more jobs, increased economic opportunity and greater equity.
Thank you.