CMNT_TITLE

Repetition

Article 2 of the Convention. National policy concerning nursing services and nursing personnel. The Committee notes with interest the recent adoption of several national policy instruments in the field of health, which are available on the website of the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene, providing for the establishment of mechanisms to contribute to the better application of the Convention, namely: the National Health Policy (November 2014), the National Health Care Development Plan (PNDS) for the period 2015–24 and the Health System Recovery Plan (2015–17). The latter indicates that: (i) the context of the crisis of the Ebola epidemic has led the authorities to undertake a forward-looking analysis to make up for human resources deficits, taking into account the financing capacity of the State; (ii) based on this analysis, it would appear that the reinforcement of human resources for health care requires the establishment of a system of recruitment and motivation for health-care professionals in remote areas, the reinforcement of the capacities of training institutions for para medical personnel, an increase of 40 per cent each year in the wages of current employees of the Ministry of Health and the recruitment of 2,000 persons in the field of health care each year; and (iii) for 2015 the Government has decided, among other measures, to recruit 750 State nurses and 300 midwives. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of the Health System Recovery Plan and the PNDS, and particularly their impact on the availability of the nursing care that is necessary for the population and on the measures taken to provide nursing personnel with education and training appropriate to the exercise of their functions and employment and working conditions, including career prospects and remuneration which are likely to attract persons to the profession and retain them in it.

Article 6. Conditions of employment and work of nursing personnel. In its previous comment, the Committee noted the Government’s indications that nursing personnel enjoy the same conditions of work and benefits as all other public employees and that they are covered by Act No. L/2001/028/AN issuing the General Conditions of Service of Public Employees. The Committee, however, notes that the PNDS indicates that in 2008 an implementing Decree issuing specific conditions of service for health-care personnel was adopted and that the implementing orders envisaged in the Decree were adopted in 2012 and implemented as from 2014. The PNDS recognizes that the measures proposed do not appear to be sufficient to achieve the expected results. The Committee therefore requests the Government to: (i) clarify which legal texts govern the conditions of employment and work of nursing personnel; (ii) supplement these texts, where necessary, with any measures required to ensure that nursing personnel enjoy conditions at least equivalent to other workers in the fields referred to in Article 6 of the Convention; and (iii) provide copies of any relevant texts which have not previously been provided to the Office.

Article 7. Safety of nursing personnel. The Committee notes that the Health System Recovery Plan indicates that health-care professionals suffered heavy human casualties in the context of the crisis of the Ebola epidemic. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to ensure the safety of nursing personnel in this context, as far as possible.