Support Nurses and Midwives

Every year the 7th April marks the celebration of World Health Day. Each year World Health Day aims to highlight a specific health theme or priority area from the World Health Organisation (WHO). In the past 50 years this has included issues from mental health, to climate change and food safety. The celebrations are an opportunity for a worldwide focus on these global health issues.

2020 is the year of nurses and midwives and therefore this year, World Health Day celebrates the vital work of nurses and midwives across the globe. Indeed, now more than ever we are seeing the critical role they play in keeping the world healthy. With the global COVID-19 pandemic, nurses and other healthcare workers are at the forefront of the response to the disease, in some cases putting themselves at risk to provide care to patients.

Nurses and midwives play a crucial role in healthcare services. Often, they are the only contact point for care in their communities, giving heath advice, caring for the elderly, giving immunisations and generally catering to everyday health needs in challenging conditions. As such, making sure the nursing and midwifery workforce is respected and supported is essential for being able to achieve so many health related goals including: national and global targets related to universal health coverage, infectious and non-communicable diseases including mental health, emergency preparedness and response, maternal and child health, patient safety and the delivery of integrated, people-centred care. The current COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a huge outpouring of support on social media for healthcare workers on the frontline, however it has also brought to light just how undervalued in times of normalcy many healthcare workers are.

Join the WHO this World Health Day to support nursing and midwifery forces for the future not just the present and ensure that they are respected and supported so that they can help everyone, everywhere get the healthcare they need. There are many ways to get involved. Below you can find a link to the World Health Day advocacy toolkit which provides suggestions for how to get involved in supporting your local nurses and midwives as well as those further afield. You can also find useful links, facts and stories from around the world.

https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/documents/world-health-day-2020/who-whd-yonm-toolkit-20200325-resolution-fixed.pdf?sfvrsn=87dd94c9_2