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IHF NEWSLETTER
International news round up
WORLD
ICN responds to tuberculosis crisis
with a capacity building programme
for nurses
THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF NURSES (ICN) on
31 August 2005 launched a broad based training
programme for nurses in high TB and MDR-TB* burden
countries, aimed at building capacity and mobilizing this
key corps of health care workers.
The first in a series of training initiatives was initiated in
South Africa with the ICN member association DENOSA
and will prepare senior nurses as trainers for nurses working
in all settings in South Africa. The programme will also roll
out in the Philippines, Russia and other high-burden
countries in Africa, Europe and Latin America over the next
two years.
Roughly three million nurses work or are registered in the
22 countries where 80% of TB cases are found. In most of
these countries nurses are the primary healthcare provider,
and often the only source of care, though they often work in
deficient systems, with poor access to adequate training,
supplies and resources.
The training programme compliments a broader ICN
initiative to address the TB crisis and ramp up the support
and capacity of nurses in treating and caring for patients with
tuberculosis and multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).
As part of the initiative, ICN has also created a TB
Resource Centre, providing multiple tools for nurses, who
are increasingly finding TB a major health issue across the
spectrum of practice.
For further information see www.icn.ch
WMA council adopts new resolution
on the healthcare skills drain
ADOPTED AT THE 170 TH WORLD MEDICAL
ASSOCIATION COUNCIL SESSION, on 15 May 2005, a
council resolution recognises that the lack of healthcare
workers in developing countries, particularly those in sub-
Saharan Africa, is one of the most serious global problems of
today and that the impact of healthcare worker migration from
developing to developed countries is a significant component
in the crisis. It resolved that:
1. “Every country should do its utmost to educate an
adequate number of physicians, taking into account its needs
and resources. A country should not rely on immigration from
other countries to meet its need for physicians”; and: “Every
country should do its utmost to retain its physicians in the
profession as well as in the country by providing them with
the support they need to meet their personal and professional
goals, taking into account the country's needs and resources.”
2. That developed countries must assist developing
countries to expand their capacity to train and retain
physicians and nurses, to enable developing countries to
become self-sufficient.
3. That action to combat the skills drain in this area must
balance the right to health of populations and other individual
human rights.
4. That the WMA reconvene the expert working group on
physician resources to coordinate development of WMA
input to WHO.
5. That the WMA commend WHO for taking a leadership
role in the global challenges of human resources.
For further information see: www.wma.org
World Health Professions Alliance expands to include dentists
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, 22 AUGUST 2005 – THE
WORLD HEALTH PROFESSIONS ALLIANCE (WHPA)
has expandedin August 2005 to include the World Dental
Federation (FDI), representing over 900,000 dentists
worldwide. The WHPA was founded in 1999 by the
International Council of Nurses (ICN), the International
Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) and the World Medical
Association (WMA) and represents more than 20 million
health professionals worldwide.
The principle goals of the WHPA are to more effectively
represent the interests of patients and the core health
professions at the global level, and to facilitate closer
collaboration among health professionals at the global,
national and local levels. Communication among the four
major health professions is vital for the prevention and
treatment of illnesses and the strengthening of health
policy. The alliance has collaborated on several important
initiatives in human rights, patient safety, tobacco control
and antimicrobial resistance and will be meeting in
Geneva, Switzerland in May 2006 for a Global Forum on
Patient Safety.
Oral health has a great impact on quality of life and
represents a substantial burden for healthcare systems and
national economies worldwide. Dentists are crucial in the
prevention, detection and treatment of chronic diseases,
including HIV/AIDS and are often the first to detect signs
of illness. Their participation and input in the World
Health Professionals Alliance will be vital to all the
Alliance’s work.
For further information see: www.whpa.org
Vol. 41 No. 3 WORLD | World hospitals Hospitals and and health Health services Services | 13| 07