By Fostina Mkandawire
Lilongwe, November 28, Mana: State President, Dr. Lazarus Chakwera on Saturday commended nurses for their sacrifice and commitment in providing the best healthcare services in the country.
Chakwera made the remarks in Lilongwe, when he presided over the launch of the 2020 International Year of the Nurse and Midwife.
He said the work of nursing and midwifery is a prime example of Malawians doing their best to make the country better through services rendered to others.
“The sacrifice made by those of you in this profession gives us the right to call you our national heroes,” he said.
The Malawi’s Head of State said there is no amount of praise that can be piled on nurses that would recompense for their sacrifice; therefore, nurses have to be celebrated for their devotion to the service.
“Nurses have worked tirelessly this year to ensure that they provide the best healthcare to the public amidst COVID-19, putting aside their own health needs,” he said.
The President highlighted some notable programs that are helping Malawi maintain its reputation as a global leader in the training and practices of nursing.
One such program is the Young Nursing and Midwifery Leaders Mentorship Project.
On this note, the First citizen assured nurses that government has their best interest at heart and that he would ensure that the nurses’ grievances are solved.
President Chakwera, therefore commended institutions and stakeholders that assist government to educate, recruit and deploy nurses and midwives and called them true partners in the work of building a new Malawi.
At the 72nd World Health Assembly in Geneva in May 2019, the World Health Organisation dedicated the year 2020, which marks two centuries since the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale was born, as the year of Nurses and Midwives.
President of the National Organisation of Nurses and Midwives (NONM), Shouts Simeza, said nurses need to be supported and encouraged by the general public.
He also underscored the importance of solving some of the pertinent issues that affect nurses in the country.
“We will seat down and list down pertinent issues that are affecting nurses and direct them to the State President so that lasting solutions should be found to these issues,” he said.
According to Simeza, some of the issues include, lack of accommodation near hospitals, shortage of workforce which mounts pressure on the available nurses and lack of sponsorship for career advancement.
On the day, two nurses received lifetime achievement awards for their service to the nursing and midwifery profession, the two are Charity Salima and Dorothy Ngoma.