UN chief Antonio Guterres lauds nurses, midwives on World Health Day 2020

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres lauded the health care workers, especially nurses and midwives, for shouldering some of the biggest health burdens. In a video message on World Health Day, the UN Chief expressed gratitude towards nurses and midwives for their professionalism and commitment.

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Guterres said that the World Health Day comes at a “very difficult time” this year, adding that the world is more deeply grateful than ever to all their work round the clock and putting themselves at risk to fight the ravages of this pandemic. He said that nurses often provide comfort at the end of life and midwives provide comfort at the beginning of life. 

“During a pandemic, their work is even more challenging as you bring our newborn safely into this world,” said the UN chief.

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'Support nurses and midwives'

World Health Organisation (WHO) acknowledged that nurses and other health workers are at the forefront of COVID-19 response, providing high quality, respectful treatment and care, leading community dialogue to address fears and questions and, in some instances,  collecting data for clinical studies. As the tagline for World Health Day 2020 is 'support nurses and midwives', WHO said that it will highlight the current status of nursing and around the world.

"This will be vital if we are to achieve national and global targets related to universal health coverage, maternal and child health, infectious and non-communicable diseases including mental health, emergency preparedness and response, patient safety and the delivery of integrated, people-centred care, amongst others." said the WHO in a statement.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused a major public health crisis around the world and health care workers at the frontline are bearing the brunt of resource crunch. Scarcity of personal protective equipment (PPE) including masks, gloves, and hazmat suits has kept the health care workers vulnerable to exposure.

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(Image Credit: AP)