ICN brings nursing powers to World Health Assembly amidst global health crises

The International Council of Nurses (ICN) is making the voice of nursing heard at the heart of international health decision-making at the 79th World Health Assembly (WHA79), which opened yesterday.

WHA79 convenes against a backdrop of escalating public health emergencies, including recent Ebola and hantavirus outbreaks, as well as geopolitical uncertainty, rising health demands, and the restructuring of the World Health Organization. With continued global shortages of 5.8 million nurses and less than four years to reach global health targets, the need to invest in the nursing and health workforce has never been more urgent.

ICN is bringing a clear, evidence-based message that the nursing workforce is central to responding to all of these challenges and to every priority on the WHA79 agenda, from health emergencies to primary health care, mental health, and the economics of health for all. No resolution passed in Geneva can become reality without the nursing and health workforce to deliver it, and ICN is calling on decision-makers to enable the full power of nursing.

Read ICN's full Key Messages for WHA79 here

ICN has a major presence and programme at WHA79, including an in-person delegation led by ICN President José Luis Cobos Serrano, First Vice President Sineva Ribeiro and CEO Howard Catton, as well as a virtual delegation of over 100 nurse leaders from around the world. ICN will deliver statements on key WHA agenda items and host or participate in over 50 meetings and events across the week, including bilateral meetings with Member States, National Nursing Associations, WHO leadership and global partners.

ICN President José Luis Cobos Serrano gave a strong message on the centrality of nursing empowerment at WHA:

"Just last week, we marked International Nurses Day (IND) with the theme Empowered Nurses Save Lives and a new model of nursing powers. We are now bringing these powers to the world's most important health policy forum, showing nurses’ impact as the largest and most trusted health workforce, the backbone of primary care, and the professionals closest to patients and communities.

In his speech today, Dr Tedros recognized that nurses make up the largest part of the world’s shortage of 11 million health workers —  and that that this shortfall must be urgently closed. He also highlighted the landmark State of the World's Nursing report, which ICN co-chaired and which shows that urgent, targeted investment in the nursing workforce is vital to meet our world’s health challenges and bring care to all people. The global health agenda is clearly a nursing agenda and at WHA79, ICN is calling for action to structurally empower the world's 30 million nurses.

Dr Tedros also described rising and unacceptable attacks on health care as the ‘alarming and illegal new normal in conflict’, echoing ICN’s urgent calls to protect nurses and all health workers and #NursesforPeace work. Nurses use their powers to bring hope, healing and protect populations and no nurse should ever be a target."

ICN First Vice President Sineva Ribeiro highlighted the central role of nursing in achieving global health targets and health for all:

"We open this World Health Assembly with warnings from WHO that the world is on course to miss every single global health target by 2030 without urgent action. There is no time to lose. We simply cannot achieve universal health coverage, promote health equity, or keep populations healthy without sufficient, supported and empowered nurses.

"At WHA79, ICN is reminding every decision-maker that the nursing workforce is not a cost — it is one of the highest-return health investments any country can make. We are calling on all leaders to invest in nurses as the non-negotiable foundation for health for all.”

ICN CEO Howard Catton underlined the critical role of the health workforce in protecting global health security in times of crisis:

“Dr Tedros’s remarks today drew our attention to the tragic deaths of health workers as well as populations amidst devastating Ebola outbreaks in DR Congo and neighbouring states. We are in touch with our national nursing associations in in both DRC and Uganda, and our colleagues are telling tell us that once again, nurses and health workers lack sufficient PPE and are fearful for their safety.

When health systems are not prepared, it is not only patients’ lives that are on the line. We cannot fail the people who protect health and health security on the frontlines of every health emergency, every conflict, every crisis. Dr Tedros said ‘international threats need an international response’. That response depends on protecting, supporting and strengthening the health and nursing workforce at the heart of health system resilience and emergency readiness.

Dr Tedros also discussed the importance of the State of the World's Nursing report, which I was proud to co-chair, and which gives us the powerful evidence to drive in-country action. At last year’s WHA, member states gave us clear direction not only to extend the Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery but to accelerate progress on them, which ICN lobbied hard for. We must take that mandate and roadmap and go even faster if we are to come close to meeting our 2030 health targets.”