Today, April 7, is the day to celebrate the work of nurses and midwives and remind world leaders of the critical role they play in keeping the world healthy. Nurses and other health workers are at the forefront of COVID-19 response—providing high quality, respectful treatment and care, leading community dialogue to address fears and questions and, in some instances, collecting data for clinical studies. Quite simply, without nurses, there would be no response.
In this International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, World Health Day will highlight the current status of nursing and around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners will make a series of recommendations to strengthen the nursing and midwifery workforce. Please pay attention to their website for further details www.who.int/. This will be vital if we are to achieve national and global targets related to universal health coverage, maternal and child health, infectious and non-communicable diseases including mental health, emergency preparedness and response, patient safety and the delivery of integrated, people-centred care, amongst others.
The WHO is calling for your support on World Health Day to ensure that the nursing and midwifery workforces are strong enough to ensure that everyone, everywhere gets the healthcare they need.
State of the World’s
Nursing Report 2020
Today on World Health Day, the WHO will launch the first ever State of the World’s Nursing Report 2020. The report will provide a global picture of the nursing workforce and support evidence-based planning to optimize the contributions of this workforce to improve health and wellbeing for all. The report will set the agenda for data collection, policy dialogue, research and advocacy, and investment in the health workforce for generations to come. A similar report on the Midwifery workforce will be launched in 2021.
Global public health days offer great potential to raise awareness and understanding about health issues and mobilise support for action, from the local community to the international stage. There are many world days observed throughout the year related to specific health issues or conditions—from Alzheimer’s to zoonoses, and even currently with the Novel Coronavirus pandemic.
However, WHO focuses particular attention on the 9 days and two- weeks that WHO Member States have mandated as “official” global public health days.
Whether you are taking the kids to be vaccinated, talking to students on the devastating health effects of tobacco, organising a mobile blood collection in your community, or contributing to the online conversation through social media, you can play a part in these worldwide efforts to create a healthier world.
Leading up to each day, this is where you will find background information, graphics, multi-media links, facts and figures that help highlight the issues and focus global attention on today’s major public health challenges.
Let’s celebrate the nurses and midwives, key front liners in our healthcare system!
Dr Visham Bhimull
MBBS (UWI)
Diploma in Family Medicine (UWI)