World Health Day 2020: Let’s show our support for nurses and midwives

Nurses and midwives are the backbone of any health system and key to the achievement of universal health coverage. They play a critical role in health promotion, disease prevention and the delivery of care in all settings. It is estimated that an additional 9 million nurses and midwives are needed if the world is to achieve universal health coverage by 2030.

In the midst of this global coronavirus pandemic, nurses and other health workers are at the forefront of the 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. They

often work in challenging circumstances providing care to patients and risking their own lives while they fight for the lives of others. “The current situation makes the theme of the World Health Day and the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife even more relevant and meaningful as we acknowledge

and pay tribute to all health workers. We need to ensure that all nurses and midwives operate in an environment where they are safe from harm, including those providing services in countries in emergency. And we need to ensure that they have access to a functioning health care service,” said Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean.

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