International Council of Nurses 2019: Congress and Policy Advocacy

ICN Congress 2019 Singapore: ‘Beyond Healthcare to Health’

In my October 2018 post, I wrote about plans for the next ICN Congress taking place in Singapore from June 27 to July 1, 2019. The impressive lineup of keynote speakers has been announced this week: presentation topics include primary health care, health economics, nursing workforce, patient perspectives, migration issues and the future of nursing regulation. Also available on the conference website are the preliminary schedule, notice of special events and registration information.

Policy Advocacy

At the start of 2019, ICN continues its global policy advocacy through participation in the World Health Organization’s Executive Board convening in Geneva this month. Policy briefs focus on primary health care as the path to universal health coverage, patient safety and human resources for health. I have appreciated reading the strong statement on universal health coverage calling on “ministries of health, within their national context, to integrate PHC as the foundation of their health systems” (ICN 2019, 5.5:1). The statement on human resources for health highlights the important collaboration of WHO and ICN in the Nursing Now initiative launched in 2018:

“In partnership with ICN and WHO, the launch of Nursing Now has raised the profile of nursing and has highlighted the importance of the need for more well-educated nurses, of investing in recruitment and retention strategies and of removing the barriers to the development of advanced nursing roles that are proving highly effective at expanding healthcare coverage” (ICN 2019, 6.3: 1).

I encourage my Canadian colleagues to follow ICN and Nursing Now as this year promises to be an exciting one for nursing on the global stage.

Update January 31, 2019. During the WHO Executive Board meeting, Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the intention to declare 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and Midwife honouring the 200th birthday of Florence Nightingale and celebrating the contribution of nursing and midwifery to global health. Watch for more details as plans unfold.

By Nora Whyte – January 25, 2019