South Pacific Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officers meet in Tonga to discuss regional healthcare strategies

The South Pacific Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officers Alliance (SPCNMOA) biennial meeting was held 18th To 21st November 2014 in Tonga. The SPCNMOA meeting builds on the success of previous meetings (Cook Islands 2004, Samoa 2006, Sydney 2008, Auckland 2010 and Melbourne 2012). Running in conjunction with the South Pacific Nurses Forum, the meeting brings together senior leaders in regulation, education and Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officers to update, discuss and plan effective programs for the Pacific in regulation, education, legislation and service delivery in the following areas:

1. Transforming health workforce education in support of universal health coverage.
2. Strengthening regional governmental networks to improve communication and strategic planning to enable improved health system strengthening and primary health care for overall population health improvements – including country updates on regulation and education.
3. Regional emergency and disaster preparedness in the face of climate change, and funding possibilities associated with this.
4. Maternal and child health.
5. Non-communicable diseases.
    

Specific outcomes from this meeting included:

• Deeper understanding of emerging issues for the region such as universal health coverage, and non-communicable diseases.
• Incorporating new research on faculty development in the region.
• Capacity building for the Government Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officers (GCNMOs) network within the Pacific region.
• Reviewing success of DFAT Australian AID Australia Awards Fellowships program.
• Sharing relevant and appropriate policies, tools and networks on:
• Human resources for health
• Emergency and disaster preparedness
• Roles and Responsibilities of Chief Nurses and Midwifery Officers
• Health system strengthening
• Maternal and Child Health

• Primary healthcare
  • MDG progress and beyond in the Pacific.
     

The SPCNMOA meeting was chaired by Dr Amelia Latu Afuha’amango Tu’ipulotu (Chief Nurse, Tonga) and attended by over 30 delegates from 12 countries in the South Pacific, including the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Niue and Tokelau were unable to attend this year. Delegates were Chief Nursing Midwifery Officers, educational representatives and regulatory representatives.  The meeting was organised by the Secretariat – the WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Development at the University of Technology Sydney (WHO CC UTS). 

The full SPCNMOA report of the meeting and photographs will be available on the website: www.spcnmoa.com in early 2015. It was ratified that the next SPCNMOA Meeting be held in 2016, in the designated SPNF country.

Group photo – South Pacific Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officers Alliance members who attended biennial meeting