HRH Princess Muna, president of the Jordanian Nursing Council and the World Health Organisation’s patron for nursing and midwifery in the Eastern Mediterranean region, participated in the closing ceremony of the "Nursing Now” campaign held Monday.

The campaign, launched in Geneva in 2018, aims at advancing the healthcare sector worldwide by highlighting its contributions to comprehensive quality health services, and encouraging governments and employers to invest in empowering leadership in nursing, as well as highlighting the profession’s role in countering COVID-19.

In a speech delivered via teleconference, Princess Muna said there are many reasons for optimism in the nearing end of COVID-19, namely the dedication of healthcare workers, including nurses and midwives worldwide who have been highly involved and instrumental in the response to the pandemic, adding that nursing organisations and institutions have played a key leadership and advocacy role.

Her Royal Highness commended the efforts of health workers, who have been the first line of defence in the fight against COVID-19.

 "I urge governments and all stakeholders, in the health sector and non-health sector, to collaborate and push for harder and wiser investment in nursing education, jobs and leadership, as the challenges and costs of the pandemic, are rising regionally and worldwide, placing a heavy economic and social burden on health systems and populations globally,” Princess Muna said. 

Her Royal Highness called for addressing challenges facing the nursing sector in the region, especially the shortage in nurses and midwives, which remains a major difficulty facing health systems around the world, expressing support for all efforts aiming at developing the nursing sector, whose workers are a source of pride.