New WHO Chief Nursing Officer shares her priority of addressing the needs of the world’s most vulnerable populations

International Council of Nurses (ICN) Chief Executive Officer Howard Catton has spoken exclusively to the new World Health Organization (WHO) Chief Nursing Officer Dr Amelia Latu Afuhaamango Tuipulotu, about the priorities and challenges ahead.

During Dr Tuipulotu’s visit to ICN head office, Mr Catton congratulated her on her appointment and expressed the wish of ICN President Dr Pamela Cipriano, ICN’s board members and staff, and its member associations worldwide to continue to further strengthen the very strong collaboration between ICN and WHO.

Dr Tuipulotu thanked ICN for its work in leading the world’s nurses, and talked about her main challenge, which is to help nurses meet the needs of the most vulnerable populations on the planet.

She said that her priorities include building trust in the profession, raising its profile and creating future nurse leaders who are equipped with the skills they need to take the profession forward in an increasingly challenging environment.

Click here to watch the interview.

Biographical information:

Dr Tuipulotu was formerly the Kingdom of Tonga’s Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) between 2014 and 2019 and served as its first female Minister for Health between 2019 and 2021. Since 2019 she has been an Honorary Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Sydney, Australia, and in 2022 she was appointed as a member of the WHO Executive Board. Her PhD focused on the foundational elements of the development of professional standards for nursing practice in Tonga, which informed her country’s nursing curriculum development, performance management and professional regulation.

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