International Nurses Day
11 May 2006
Friday, 12 May, we join the world in commemorating International Nurses Day
as an acknowledgement of the crucial role played by our nurses across the
country who work tirelessly and selflessly in providing health care to those
who need it.
Nurses form the foundation of our health care service delivery, therefore as
we observe this day I wish to urge all South Africans to join the Department of
Health in reflecting on and acknowledging the valuable contribution that nurses
make to the communities they serve everyday.
The theme, adopted by the International Council of Nurses (ICN), this year,
is âSafe staffing saves livesâ. This theme underscores the need for governments
to better manage human resources for health towards a safer and more effective
and efficient health care system. This theme augments this year's World Health
Day theme sponsored by the World Health Organisation (WHO) of 'working together
for health' which was dedicated to human resources for health.
This year's International Nurses Day commemoration is aimed at highlighting
the chronic global shortage of health workers as a result of decades of under
investment in their training, remuneration and working environments. The World
Health Report, 2006 titled "Working Together for Health" suggests an estimated
shortage of almost 4,3 million doctors, nurses, midwives and support workers
worldwide. The situation is even more severe in developing countries,
especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where health workers are most needed because
of the large burden of both communicable and non-communicable diseases.
Exacerbating the crisis further is the continued migration and recruitment
of health personnel from developing to developed countries. Addressing these
and other challenges has become a key priority of the Department. We have
already put in place a number of measures to address some of the challenges
facing human resources in the health sector. These include providing scarce
skills and rural allowances to attract and retain health workers, particularly
in the under-served areas and the rapid expansion of our hospital
revitalisation programme and the implementation of the district health
system.
Key among our interventions to strengthen human resource planning is
undoubtedly the recent launch of the country's Human Resources Plan for Health
(HRH). The plan outlines government's strategy in addressing the challenges of
human resource supply and distribution in South Africa.
As the national Department of Health, we have also committed ourselves to
intensifying our efforts towards improving the conditions under which our
nurses work. A national strategy specific to nursing is being developed in
partnership with the leadership of the profession. This strategy is a response
to the increasing stress that the profession is experiencing and represents a
deliberate move to reposition the nursing profession to its rightful place at
the heart of health care delivery.
As part of our personnel recruitment and retention strategy, the Department
of Health in partnership with other government departments has already
commenced discussions to improve remuneration and working conditions of our
nurses and other professional workers. An announcement in this regard will be
made later this year.
We once again wish to reiterate our heartfelt appreciation of our health
workers and specifically our nurses and join them in celebrating the 2006
International Nurses Day. We acknowledge the pivotal role that our nurses play
in the delivery of health services, a role that indeed renders them an
invaluable asset in the health care delivery system.
Happy International Nurses Day!
Enquiries:
Solly Mabotha
Director: Media Liaison and Public Information
Tel: (012) 312 0609
Cell: 083 678 9860
Issued by: Ministry of Health
11 May 2006
