World Health Day 2020 & Year of Nursing

Tuesday 7th of April 2020

World Health Day 2020 & Year of Nursing

World Health Day, 7th April, 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. In this International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, World Health Day will highlight the current status of nursing and around the world.

As the world fights a global pandemic, the world needs them working to the full extent of their education and training more than ever. Nurses have played a key role as part of teams managing epidemics that threaten health across the globe, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003, the Middle East respiratory coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outbreak in 2015, Zika virus disease in 2016, Ebola virus disease in 2014 and the COVID-19 outbreak that began in 2019.

World Health Organization (WHO) urges governments and stakeholders to invest in the massive acceleration of nursing education – faculty, infrastructure and students – to address global needs, meet domestic demand, and respond to changing technologies and advancing models of integrated health and social care.

The aim is to create at least 6 million new nursing jobs by 2030, primarily in low- and middle-income countries, to offset the projected shortages and redress the inequitable distribution of nurses across the world. Also strengthen nurse leadership – both current and future leaders – to ensure that nurses have an influential role in health policy formulation and decision-making, and contribute to the effectiveness of health and social care systems.