ICN delivers strong UHC message in “Care Anywhere” interview and WHO meetings

In a recent CGFNS International “Care Anywhere” podcast interview, International Council of Nurses (ICN) President Dr Pamela Cipriano delivered a powerful message: universal health coverage cannot succeed without bold and sustained investment in nurses.

Dr Cipriano said: “We have to value, protect, respect and invest in nursing - if we're not calling for investment in the nursing workforce, we will not be able to deliver on health for the people we serve”.

In the interview, Dr Cipriano emphasized nurses’ central role in delivering primary health care (PHC), which is crucial to getting accessible and affordable care to all who need it, including underserved communities. She stressed that “the path to universal health coverage, to keeping people healthy, is through primary health care” and described how nurses in primary care settings address key health challenges by educating patients on issues including vaccination and antimicrobial resistance and supporting early detection and management of health issues before they become chronic conditions. This improves health outcomes and population wellbeing: “If someone can be prevented from going into renal failure or from developing hypertension or the complications of diabetes, just think how much better off their life will be”.

Dr Cipriano added that “many more countries around the world are creating the educational pathways for advanced practice as well as specialization at the general practice level. This is a really important development and recognition that nurses are critical in providing primary health care for universal health coverage.”

Dr Cipriano told CGFNS International that the path to increased investment in nursing and health faces significant challenges, especially for developing countries who face major international debt burdens. Dr Cipriano is co-chair of the UHC 2030 steering committee and pointed to a concerning lack of financial protections that are leaving individuals to shoulder excessive out-of-pocket medical expenses and threatening our ability to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, including UHC, by 2030. While many countries have improved access to health services, she explained, “the number of people who are experiencing debt from health care and who are being pushed into poverty also went up”. She called for urgent action to “get the financial protections in place” and to “help countries have leverage with their debt burden so that they can invest more in their health care”.

ICN reaffirmed Dr Cipriano’s call for increased investment in nurses as the key to UHC in a strong statement at the World Health Organization’s Executive Board sessions this week.

ICN delivered an intervention on UHC, emphasizing that the world’s 28 million nurses, as the largest and most widely distributed health workforce, are “central to achieving Universal Health Coverage” and “play a vital role in strengthening primary health care, ensuring care continuity, and addressing health inequities globally.”

The statement highlighted ICN's recent Primary Health Care Report, which demonstrates the effectiveness of nurse-led healthcare models in making high-quality, cost-effective care accessible to communities worldwide. However, ICN warned that chronic underinvestment in nursing is jeopardizing progress towards UHC goals and called for urgent action to strengthen the nursing workforce, noting that “There is no health for all without investing in nurses for all.”

ICN will continue to intervene at WHO Executive Board meetings throughout this week. Dr Cipriano participated in Wednesday’s UN Partnership Forum of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), where she delivered a strong statement highlighting the urgent need for collaboration to improve both access to care and financial protections to achieve UHC goals.

Dr Cipriano added: “The future of universal health coverage depends on the decisions we make today. As the world’s leaders gather at WHO and UN forums this week and over the coming months, ICN calls on them to recognize that investing in nursing is essential, not optional, in achieving health for all.”

ICN’s full statements at the WHO Executive Board are available here.

Dr Cipriano’s ECOSOC statement is available here, beginning at minute 39:18.