UTS and DFAT join to improve Pacific region health services

Part of a of a $45.5 million Pacific Health Systems Strengthening Program announced by Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong and Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy, the initiative aims to help Pacific island countries strengthen population health and health systems by improving nursing and midwifery leadership, education, standards and practice.

Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing and Midwifery UTS, Professor Michele Rumsey, said the funding would enable the Collaborating Centre to build on existing regional partnerships to further strengthen quality and safety of health services to meet the goals of universal health coverage for people across the Pacific, with gender equity and disability-inclusive development embedded as priorities throughout. 

“Approximately 74 per cent of the Pacific healthcare workforce are nurses and midwives who deliver the majority of health services, especially in remote and rural areas,” Professor Rumsey said.

“COVID-19, as well as the ongoing impacts of climate change on our Pacific island countries, continue to highlight the immense importance of our nurses and midwives, as well as the urgent need for increased investment in primary healthcare, climate health impacts and pandemic preparedness across our region.

“A strong, capable and resilient workforce that is able to respond to current priorities can only be achieved by effectively matching the skills of health workers to population needs,” she said. 

Over the next five years, the WHOCC Nursing and Midwifery UTS will work collaboratively with partners to build regional healthcare standards to ensure that Pacific island countries are capable of meeting current and future healthcare challenges for their populations.

“As key components of a successful health system, strong governance and leadership will also be developed as part of the program,” she said.

“We will build on existing effective strategies, work closely with targeted future leaders in each country to strengthen capacity and further develop the leadership potential of health workers across the region.”

This award reinforces UTS’s long history connecting leaders across public health, nursing, and midwifery to achieve the World Health Organization’s vision of Health for All.

In 2022, UTS was named the Secretariat for the Global Network of WHO Collaborating Centres for Nursing and Midwifery (2022-2026) and has been driving engagement and collaboration across the Western Pacific and Global Network to improve health of individuals and diverse communities.