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The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s last report essentially reiterates information already provided in previous years. The Committee further regrets the Government’s persistent failure to transmit copies of legislative texts and collective agreements that the Committee has been specifically requesting for a number of years. To enable the Committee to thoroughly evaluate the conformity of national law and practice with the requirements of the Convention, the Government should make every effort to present regular and precise information on all significant developments bearing on health-care policy and nursing services.

The Committee therefore asks the Government to submit for examination at its next session full particulars, including copies of any legislative texts that may not have already been forwarded to the Office, on the effect given to the principal provisions of the Convention, namely: (i) the formulation of a national policy on nursing services designed to improve the quality standards of public health-care, but also to create a stimulating environment for the exercise of the nursing profession (Article 2(1)); (ii) measures relating to nursing education and training, as may be taken in consultation with the professional bodies and workers’ organizations concerned (Article 2(2)(a) and Article 3); (iii) the institutional framework and practical modalities of the process of consultation with employers’ and workers’ organizations in matters of nursing policy (Article 2(3) and Article 5(1)); (iv) sufficient protection for nursing personnel, in light of the constraints and hazards inherent in the profession, especially in terms of hours of work and rest periods, paid absence and social security benefits (Article 6); and (v) measures to improve the occupational safety and health conditions of health workers, including any specific initiative aimed at protecting nursing personnel from HIV infection (Article 7).

Part V of the report form. Further to the Government’s earlier statement that there had been a decrease in the numbers of nursing personnel between 1986 and 1997 and that the International Monetary Fund had requested the Government to commence recruiting in this sector, the Committee would appreciate receiving up to date information on the situation of the nursing workforce, including, for instance, statistics on the nurse-to-population ratio, the number of students attending nursing schools, the number of nurses leaving or joining the profession, etc. The Committee would also wish to receive all available information on the composition, mandate and functioning of the joint committees responsible for negotiating the conditions of employment and work of nursing personnel in the private sector, comparative data on remuneration levels practiced in the public and the private sectors, and statistics on the distribution of nursing staff between urban centres and rural areas. Finally, the Committee would invite the Government’s views on whether and how global phenomena, such as the shortage of qualified nurses, nurse migration, or the privatization of health-care institutions, impact on the quantity and quality of nursing care at the national level.