nurses Archives - Iran News Daily

65% of nursing home residents vaccinated against COVID-19

mahla — Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:27:10 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Some 65 percent of the elderly being kept in nursing homes have received coronavirus vaccine, Mostafa Seraj, an official with Welfare Organization has said.

Influenza vaccination has been done in all day-care centers under the Welfare Organization’s control, and since early March, COVID-19 vaccines are being injected into these target groups, he added.

Currently, 900 nursing homes and care centers affiliated to the Welfare Organization are operating in the country, he noted.

Along with the vaccination of medical staff, 110,000 war veterans who were disabled during the Sacred Defense (the 1980-1988 war imposed by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein) and the elderly who are living in daycare centers will be vaccinated, Iranian Food and Drug Administration spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said on February 26.

According to the national vaccination document, vaccination against coronavirus started with priority given to health workers, vulnerable and high-risk groups, and then ordinary people will receive the vaccine.

Homegrown vaccines

COVIRAN BAREKAT, the first coronavirus vaccine made by researchers at the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam which was unveiled on December 29, 2020, started to be mass-produced on March 29.

The second Iranian coronavirus vaccine, Razi Cov Pars, which started the clinical trial on February 27, will be mass-produced in early August.

Fakhra vaccine, the third homegrown vaccine, was unveiled and started the clinical trial on March 16.

On January 27, Health Minister Saeed Namaki said Iran will soon be one of the world’s important manufacturers of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Mass-vaccination

Iran started mass vaccination against COVID-19 with Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine on February 9; which is also going to be co-produced by the two countries.

The first shipment of the COVAX vaccine was also delivered to Tehran in early April.

“Currently, about 250,000 people in the country have been vaccinated and about 56,000 others have received the second dose of the vaccine,” Alireza Raeisi, spokesman for the National Headquarters for Coronavirus control said.

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WHO: World needs 6m nurses

reporter 1222 — Wed, 08 Apr 2020 04:00:44 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – As COVID-19 captures global headlines, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Tuesday that the world needs nearly six million nurses.

The UN’s health agency along with partners Nursing Now and the International Council of Nurses (ICN) underscored in a report the crucial role played by nurses, who make up more than half of all health workers worldwide.

“Nurses are the backbone of any health system,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement, Reuters reported.

“Today, many nurses find themselves on the frontline in the battle against COVID-19,” he noted, adding that it was vital they “get the support they need to keep the world healthy.”

The report said that there are just under 28 million nurses on the planet.

In the five years leading up to 2018, the number grew by 4.7 million.

“But this still leaves a global shortfall of 5.9 million,” the WHO said, pointing out that the greatest gaps were in poorer countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and parts of South America.

The report urged countries to identify gaps in their nursing workforce and invest in nursing education, jobs and leadership.

Shortages ‘exhaust workforce’

ICN chief executive Howard Catton told a virtual briefing that infection rates, medication errors and mortality rates “are all higher where there are too few nurses”.

Furthermore, “shortages exhaust our current nursing workforce”, he added.

In fighting the pandemic, Mary Watkins, who co-chaired the report for Nursing Now, called for urgent investment in virus tests for health care workers.

“We have a very high proportion of health care workers not going to work because they’re afraid that they’ve been infected and that they can’t prove that they have not got the infection — or that they’ve had it, and they’re over it,” she said.

Catton said that 23 nurses had died in Italy and cited figures suggesting that around 100 health workers had died around the world.

Meanwhile, he said there were reports of nine percent of health workers being infected in Italy and “we’re now hearing of rates of infections up to 14 percent in Spain”.

He also cited reports of “completely unacceptable and reprehensible” attacks on health workers battling COVID-19, largely due to ignorance about their work, combined with countries not doing enough to protect them.

“COVID is putting it into a very stark lens for us all,” he said, though he welcomed the growing appreciation in some countries of nurse’s work.

Catton said that could help change perceptions of the value of nursing — which in turn might help make it a more attractive profession.

Male recruitment

Beyond COVID-19, Watkins said many wealthier countries were not producing enough nurses to meet their own health care needs, and were therefore reliant on migration, exacerbating shortages in poorer countries.

“Eighty percent of the world’s nurses only currently serves 50 percent of the world’s population,” she noted.

Catton warned of risks that richer countries would rely on the Philippines and India to “supply the world with nurses”, which could lead to significant shortages in India.

The experts said nursing remains female-dominated and needed to recruit more men.

“There is clear evidence that where there are more men in any profession in the world, the pay and the terms and conditions improve,” Watkins said.

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World Health Day Theme: support nurses and midwives

reporter 1222 — Tue, 07 Apr 2020 13:02:28 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – By highlighting the theme of this year’s World Health Day as “Support nurses and midwives”, the WHO restated the critical role that nurses and midwives play in keeping the world healthy.

“Nurses account for more than half of all the world’s health workers, providing vital services throughout the health system. Historically, as well as today, nurses are at the forefront of fighting epidemics and pandemics that threaten health across the globe. Around the world they are demonstrating their compassion, bravery, and courage as they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic: never before has their value been more clearly demonstrated” WHO stated on World Health Day 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the urgent need to strengthen the global health workforce. A new report, The State of the World’s Nursing 2020, provides an in-depth look at the largest component of the health workforce. Findings identify important gaps in the nursing workforce and priority areas for investment in nursing education, jobs, and leadership to strengthen nursing around the world and improve health for all.

“Nurses are the backbone of any health system. Today, many nurses find themselves on the front-line in the battle against COVID-19,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “This report is a stark reminder of the unique role they play and a wakeup call to ensure they get the support they need to keep the world healthy.”

“The current situation makes the theme of the World Health Day and the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife even more relevant and meaningful as we acknowledge and pay tribute to all health workers. We need to ensure that all nurses and midwives operate in an environment where they are safe from harm, including those providing services in countries in an emergency. And we need to ensure that they have access to a functioning health care service,” said Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean.

“Your work with patients and communities in hospitals, in- and out-patient clinics, and health centers are the very foundation not only of the health system but of the social compact of the whole society, particularly at these times of physical distancing and isolation. We salute also all Behvarz and Moragheb-e-Salamat (health workers at PHCs) who play such an important role as part of the community health workforce. We have the highest esteem and respect for your daily effort to overcome fear and anxiety among the community and the patients, and at the same time to deal with your own challenges and concerns for your families. We are here to support you, nurses and midwives and fellow health workers” said Dr. Christoph Hamelmann, the WHO Representative in the Islamic Republic of Iran in a joint video message with the Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MoHME).

“Now during the emergency of the COVID-19 epidemic, you are the pillars of care for pregnant women, lactating mothers, for the newborn and children, for adolescents, the working population, and the elderly, not only with regard to the coronavirus and the special precautions in care that need to be considered but at the same time for all the other urgent health care needs of the population”.

“This World Health Day, we cannot celebrate together physically, but in our hearts and minds we are celebrating together – we are celebrating you, dear nurses, midwives and fellow health workers” he added.

The report, The State of the World’s Nursing 2020, by the World Health Organization (WHO) in partnership with the International Council of Nurses (ICN) and Nursing Now, reveals that today, there are just under 28 million nurses worldwide. Between 2013 and 2018, nursing numbers increased by 4.7 million. But this still leaves a global shortfall of 5.9 million – with the greatest gaps found in countries in Africa, South East Asia, and the WHO Eastern Mediterranean region as well as some parts of Latin America.

Revealingly, more than 80 percent of the world’s nurses work in countries that are home to half of the world’s population. And one in every eight nurses practices in a country other than the one where they were born or trained. Aging also threatens the nursing workforce: one out of six of the world’s nurses are expected to retire in the next 10 years.

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