JHPIEGO Salutes Nurses Working to Improve Access to Quality Health Care Services for Women and Families Around the World

Market Wire, May, 2003

In observance of International Nurses Day on May 12, 2003, JHPIEGO, an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University, is celebrating the contributions nurses have made to improving the health of women and families around the world.

"We salute the many nurses who have worked with JHPIEGO since its founding 30 years ago to increase access to quality health care services for women and their families," said Leslie Mancuso, PhD, RN and CEO of JHPIEGO. "The 30-year legacy of nurses' dedication and commitment has resulted in considerable improvements in the health of women and children in developing countries," said Mancuso.

Nurses are key members of the health care team and play a pivotal role in the delivery of quality health services. Since its establishment in 1973, JHPIEGO has trained over 15,000 nurses in 101 countries. These nurses in turn have trained others, building a cadre of skilled providers to serve their communities.

Nurses are working at all levels of their host countries with policymakers, educators, trainers, managers and providers to develop and implement programs aimed at expanding access and reducing barriers to quality health services.

Many are involved, for example, in developing national standards for women's health services or revising the curriculum for nursing midwifery schools. In the past five years alone, JHPIEGO has provided technical assistance to 325 national nursing and midwifery institutions and the ministries of health and nursing and midwifery licensing bodies in more than 23 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, Caribbean and the Middle East.

Nurses play a key role as members of the interdisciplinary health care. Many are working in hospitals, health centers, or other settings to deliver an array of quality health services to women and their families including family planning and reproductive health, maternal and neonatal care, HIV/AIDS prevention, public health, and infection prevention.

With an estimated 42 million people worldwide infected with HIV/AIDS, an important mission of JHPIEGO is to develop innovative training and education programs on HIV/AIDS for nurses and other providers to stem the spread of the infection. In Zambia, for example, nurses using JHPIEGO training materials are teaching community volunteers how to provide home-based care to people terminally ill with AIDS. In the Caribbean, nurses are using JHPIEGO training to improving counseling services in order to slow the vertical transmission of HIV from mother to child.

JHPIEGO has been a leader in the field of international family planning and reproductive health care from its start 30 years ago. Trained through JHPIEGO, nurses around the world are working to deliver a full range of family planning and reproductive health services. In Afghanistan, JHPIEGO is improving the skills of 50 to 60 nurse midwives who in turn will serve as a cadre of trainers who will pass on their skills to others. JHPIEGO will also develop a national curriculum for training the women as midwives and identify the needs to update the war torn health care facilities.

Each year an estimated 515,000 women die during pregnancy and childbirth, and about 9.3 million late fetal and neonatal deaths occur. To reduce maternal and infant mortality, JHPIEGO is training skilled providers in the delivery of essential maternal and newborn care in 11 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

Amajor component of JHPIEGO's training in maternal and neonatal health is the concept of woman-centered care, an approach that treats women with dignity and recognizes cultural preferences. In addition, nurses trained through JHPIEGO deliver a full range of family planning and reproductive health services.

Contact: Michele Robinson Director of Global Communications 410-537-1969 mrobinson@jhpiego.net