ICN President calls for resilient health systems at UN High Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response

The President of the International Council of Nurses (ICN), Dr Pamela Cipriano addressed the United Nations High Level Meeting (UNHLM) on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR) held on 20 September, calling for the UN’s political declaration on PPPR to “be a unifying commitment that binds action from all health sectors for pandemic prevention and response, UHC and ending TB as common goals for redesigning and strengthening our health systems to deliver health for all.”

Dr Cipriano called attention to the huge toll on the physical and mental health of health workers caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and warned that “with a global shortage of six million nurses prior to the pandemic., combined with the ageing nursing population and excessive burnout and stress, ICN believes the world could be facing a nurse shortage as high as 13 million if not more. Health care workers stepped up for COVID and put their lives on the line. But we have to ask: will they be there next time?”

The ICN President, who represents ICN as a member of the International Health Partnership’s (UHC) Task Force, said:

“There is no health without a health workforce. If we’re to meet all the challenges before us, we need strong, equitable and resilient heath systems and a strong and sustainable nursing and care workforce. “

The President summarized the 10 policy actions in ICN’s Charter for Change and asked that the UN Declaration, which will be published after the HLM, to address:

• protection of and investment in the nursing profession and care workforce to rebuild health systems ensuring safe, equitable and healthy working conditions;
• strategies to finance needed positions;
• reestablishing a priority focus of health systems on public health and patient-centred primary care;
• involvement of nursing in decision-making affecting health care at all levels in organizations and policymaking bodies; and
• protection of vulnerable populations, upholding and respecting human rights gender equity and social justice.

In May this year Dr Cipriano, on behalf of ICN, cosigned a joint statement with the Japanese Nursing Association to the G7 calling on them to commit to action to support nurses and healthcare workers worldwide. Building on that message in her intervention to the UNHLM PPPR she said:

“Nurses, the largest sector of the health workforce, are key to healthier communities, responsive societies and thriving economic and powerful nations. We need resilient health systems that do not fail their workers or the people we serve. The political declaration should be a unifying commitment that binds action from all health sectors for pandemic prevention and response, UHC and ending TB as common goals for redesigning and strengthening our health systems to deliver health for all.”