Message of WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti
On 12 May every year, the world celebrates International Nurses Day in recognition of the tireless contribution of nurses to saving lives and providing quality care for their patients.
This year’s theme is “Nurses: A Voice to Lead – A vision for the future healthcare” because the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the transformative and vital roles of nurses. Now is the time to learn from this experience, and scale-up innovations, to build forward better for the future of health care.
In 2021, WHO is also celebrating the International Year of Health and Care Workers, recognizing the dedication and sacrifice of those on the frontlines of the pandemic response.
In the African Region, more than half of our health workers are nurses and midwives. As the backbone of our health systems, nurses are overworked. On average, one nurse is expected to serve more than 1000 community members. During the pandemic, the demands on nurses have increased as have the risks they face.
To reduce these risks, as WHO we have worked with governments and regional and national nursing associations and other partners, to train more than 200,000 health workers in basic infection prevention and control practices. Through the UN Supply Portal, we have shipped more than 75 million items of personal protective equipment to African countries, along with other essential supplies, valued at more than US$ 117 million.
I commend governments in Eswatini, Ghana, Nigeria, and other countries that have provided incentives, like transport, hazard pay and health insurance to staff working on the COVID-19 response. Countries, such as Chad, Niger and Mauritius recruited more people to better manage the workload. These strategies contributed to motivating health workers to meet the increased demands during this crisis.
COVID-19 has also spurred innovations that will shape the future of health care. Use of telemedicine has rapidly scaled-up, resulting in nurses and other health workers receiving training while practising in remote areas. For instance, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia and other countries, used mHero, a two-waymobile communication system, to exchange information between ministries of health and health workers.
In South Africa, a mobile app called SAFECARE4COVID, enabled nurses to assess and report on the availability of equipment, staff and supplies in health facilities, as well as to check on their own processes and knowledge to treat patients for COVID-19.
This International Nurses Day, I urge health-care providers to ensure nurses and other health workers are supported and equipped to deliver quality care at all times, integrating innovations to fast track advances in health care.
I add my voice in appreciating and thanking nurses in African countries and all over the world, for the support you provide to patients and their families to cope with illness and to lead healthier lives.
Learn more:
- International Nurses Day Toolkit – International Council of Nurses
- State of the World’s Nursing Report, WHO, 2020
- Report on the Strategic Response to COVID-19 in the WHO African Region
- The State of Health in the WHO African Region, 2018
- Four-year, integrated nursing and midwifery competency-based, prototype curriculum for the African Region 2016 (WHO Regional Office for Africa, 2016)
- Three-year regional prototype pre-service competency-based nursing curriculum (WHO Regional Office for Africa, 2016)
- The regional professional regulatory framework for nursing and midwifery: creating a common approach to regulation, educational preparation and practice: future direction for nursing & midwifery development in the African region (WHO Regional Office for Africa, 2016)