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Yesterday, April 7th, 2020, marked World Health Day, a celebration that has officially taken effect since 1950 and creates awareness of a specific health theme to highlight a priority area of concern for the World Health Organization (WHO). Coinciding with the 2020 International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, this year’s theme is focused on the contribution of nurses, midwives and other health workers who are at the front lines of the COVID-19 response and are putting their own lives at risk to keep the broader community healthy.
“Nurses and midwives are leaders, care providers, change agents, educators and community mobilizers,” states WHO.
Nurses & Midwives Facts
- The global nursing workforce is around 28 million, of which more than 19 million are professional nurses.
- The Western Pacific Region has around 7 million nurses, who comprise a quarter of the global nursing workforce.
- Ninety-five percent of the nurses in the Western Pacific Region are women.
- Fifty-one percent of nurses in the Western Pacific Region are younger than 35 years of age.
- One out of 3 nurses in the Region is born or trained in a country other than their current country of practice.
- In 2018, there was an estimated 350,000 shortage of nurses in the Region. Eighty-nine percent of this shortage is concentrated in low- and lower middle-income countries.
Nurses comprise more than two-thirds of the health workforce in the WHO Western Pacific Region alone, and they are critical in responding to health needs in all settings and for varying age groups. This World Health Day, WHO advocates for an increase in commitment and resources to strengthen the nursing and midwifery workforce by improving their education and working conditions, and helping them operate to their full potential.