On Monday 2 September, the European Commission announced that it had signed a contribution agreement with the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe (WHO Europe) to help Member States retain nurses in their healthcare systems and make the profession more attractive.
The agreement, funded with €1.3 million by the EU4Health programme, provides for activities in all EU Member States over a 36-month period. Particular attention will be paid to countries suffering from a serious shortage of healthcare staff, especially nurses.
Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, said that the action taken “is a sign of our commitment to address the serious health workforce issues that many Member States are facing”.
Funding will include creating recruitment action plans, mentoring programmes to attract a new generation of nurses and impact assessments to understand the issues behind these structural shortages. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)