Commission signs funding agreement in support of nurses

Brussels–The European Commission has signed a contribution agreement with the Regional Office for Europe of the World Health Organization, WHO, to support member states in retaining nurses in their national health systems and making the nursing profession more attractive.

Health and Food Safety Commissioner Stella Kyriakides commented on the initiative, saying, “It is a sign of our commitment to address the serious issues related to health workers that many member states are facing and improve the resilience of health systems across the European Health Union.”

The agreement will benefit from €1.3 million from the EU4Health programme, one of the main instruments for realising the European Health Union, earmarked for activities in all member states for 36 months, with specific attention to countries with severe difficulties.

The funding provides for the creation of action plans tailored to the concrete needs of the member states, which will focus on recruitment and mentoring programs to attract new nurses, in addition to an improvement of their working conditions, which will start with analyses of structural deficiencies and the possibility for this category also to enjoy the benefits from digitalization.