An announcement was made today that two WHO projects, 'support for strengthening the quality of nursing services and nursing education in the Pacific' and 'increase continuing education for nurses and health professionals' would be conducted in partnership with NZAID. This funding decision, is alligned with the New Zealand Government's committment to addressing the health needs of development partner countries, as reflected in NZAID's health policy - Ending Poverty Begins With Health.
Both projects recognize that among the health workforce in the Pacific, nurses make up the majority of healthcare workers and represent over 50% of the national health workforce in most Pacific island countries. The objective of the first project is to improve the capacity of nurses to deliver quality nursing services to improve patient and client care and community health services; and the second project involves the WHO-led Pacific Open Learning Health Network.
The NZAID-WHO collaboration on strengthening nursing capacity in the Pacific is a response to the needs identified by the countries of the Pacific, to assist their health workers deliver improved essential services to their communities to maintain healthy populations in the Pacific.
[Photograph: Dr Chen Ken, WHO Representative in the South Pacific and Ms Caroline McDonald, Acting New Zealand High Commissioner in Fiji]
