Davao City- Nursing professionals from member countries of the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-
Malaysia-the Philippines East Asian Growth Area (Bimp-Eaga) are joining efforts to strengthen the
sub-regional cooperation through nursing as they are all set for the first ever BIMP International
Nursing Conference next week in Davao City.
Slated October 8-9 at the Apo View Hotel, the conference is a milestone event for Davao City, the
birthplace of EAGA.
Some 400 nursing educators and health practitioners from all across Bimp-Eaga are expected at the
conference which highlights the theme, Nursing Education in BIMP through the Lens of People-
centered Health Care Framework.
The conference hopes to generate consensus among participating institutions of their role in the
People-Centered HealthCare Framework and in the regional strategy for human resources for health (HRH) of the World Health Organization western pacific region (WHO-WPR), said Professor Nancy Brisa Fuentes, convenor of the event.
Fuentes added that the conference will provide a venue for the sharing of ideas and information on
the national, regional and global standards in nursing education and practice.
The conference also aims to define the role of nursing and its implications to the WHO global and regional strategy on HRH for 2006-2015 (WHO-HRH), which envisions the building of a competent and supported health workforce and the promoting of equitable access to quality health services that are responsive to population health needs, or demand.
In 2006, WHO regional director for the western pacific Shigeru Omi observed that the past century has seen the most spectacular medical breakthroughs in history. But he pointed out that these advances are of little value without competent, productive and supported health workers.
Health workers are important in advancing health and the quality of health care and achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals, Omi said.
Further discussions on the WHO-HRH will be reported in detail by the conference’s keynote speaker Kathleen Fritsch, WHO-WPR adviser in nursing.
Through the conference, it is expected that linkages will be established for future benchmarking on the areas of human resource for health, educational exchanges and visits among Bimp schools of nursing.
Undersecretary Virgilio Leyretana, chairman of the Mindanao economic development council (Medco) sees the initiative as complementary with the government’s efforts to forge ties beyond barriers in order to achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs), which strongly advances the promotion of health.
This conference is an opportune time for government and the private sector, for nursing schools, as well as education ministries in the Bimp region to collaborate and seek ways in using nursing research, nursing practice and community health development effectively, Leyretana said.
The conference is spearheaded by the collaboration in research, education and extension and development (Creed) – a joint undertaking of Brokenshire College and San Pedro College here.
We hope that the conference will be an annual event in the Bimp region, said Fuentes. Aside from the participants in the Bimp region, the convenors are also expecting delegates from Thailand, Japan, Australia and China. (Medco)
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