23 May 2024
Your Royal Highness Princess Muna Al Hussein,
Dr Pamela Cipriano, President of the International Council of Nurses,
Ms Sandra Oyarzo Torres, President of the International Confederation of Midwives, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am pleased to join you today. Nurses and midwives are dear to my heart and high on my agenda.
They are vital components of multidisciplinary health teams, strong health systems and healthy communities.
As the largest cadre of health workers, nurses and midwives are drivers of healthy societies and healthy economies. Without them, we cannot achieve universal health coverage, health security, or the health-related Sustainable Development Goals.
A key lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic is that we need to invest more in strengthening our health workforce.
When governments invest in training, employing and retaining nurses and midwives, they alleviate poverty and enhance social and economic prosperity, gender equality, social cohesion and peace.
Unfortunately, we are not investing enough in the health workforce globally nor in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
Nurses and midwives make up more than half the health workforce in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, but we still face shortages. Our Region accounts for almost 18% of the global shortage of nurses, and if current trends continue, we will lack 1.2 million nurses by 2030.
That would impact every country of the Region.
Without more well-trained nurses and midwives, we cannot tackle the rise in communicable and noncommunicable diseases effectively. We cannot promote healthy lives for all.
WHO is trying to turn the tide. Fostering cooperation among countries. Enhancing training. Making sure that all health professionals are protected and valued.
Last year, WHO Member States meeting in our Regional Committee called for accelerated action to invest and empower the health workforce.
And now, as WHO Regional Director I am developing a flagship initiative to strengthen the health workforce in the Region. The aim is to build a regional health workforce for the future – one that is agile and prepared to confront a changing public health landscape. We need to look at future scenarios to guide the transformation in health professionals’ education, employment policies and investments.
I count on all WHO Member States and partners to work together to take this agenda forward.
We can create conditions for collaboration and build on the comparative strengths of different partners. We need to address the development of both individuals and institutions.
We must ensure that nurses and midwives are respected, enjoy a conducive working environment and have a more prosperous future.
Ultimately, we will all reap the benefits.
