世界衛生組織：全球護士缺口達590萬

新冠肺炎疫情讓“護士荒”成爲了全球性的難題。世界衛生組織日前發佈的 《2020全球護理狀況報告》顯示，目前全球有近2800萬名護士，但仍有590萬名護理人員的缺口。與此同時，護士在全球分佈非常不均勻，其中最大的缺口在非洲、東南亞、拉美等中低收入國家。

Nurses play a vital role on the front lines of the novel coronavirus pandemic. But a shortage of these essential health care workers could pose challenges in countries dealing with a growing number of COVID-19 cases.

護士在抗擊新冠肺炎疫情前線發揮着重要作用。但是這些至關重要的醫護人員短缺給新冠肺炎病例日益增多的國家帶來了挑戰。

“One of the lessons I hope the world learns from COVID-19 is that we must invest in nurses and midwives,” said World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a speech Tuesday in celebration of World Health Day, which recognized the vital work of nurses and midwives worldwide.

4月7日，世界衛生組織總幹事譚德塞在紀念世界衛生日的演講中說：“我希望世界從新冠肺炎中學到的教訓之一是我們必須加大對護士和助產士的投入。”今年世界衛生日的主題是肯定全球的護士和助產士工作的重要性。

The WHO chief said nurses around the globe are providing care for critically ill and isolated COVID-19 patients, at the risk of their own lives.

譚德塞表示，全球各地的護士正冒着生命危險照料被隔離的新冠肺炎危重患者。

This is not the first time their importance has been highlighted in international emergencies. Nurses were also on the front lines of the Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and West Africa. In Liberia, they were the most affected by the outbreak among health care workers.

護士在國際危機事件中的重要性並不是第一次被凸顯。埃博拉病毒暴發期間護士們也曾奮戰在剛果民主共和國和西非的前線。在利比里亞，護士是醫護工作者當中感染人數最多的羣體。

WHO’s new “State of the World’s Nursing 2020” report has identified a global shortage of 5.9 million nurses. Many of those gaps are found in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean, and parts of Latin America.

世界衛生組織新發布的《2020全球護理狀況報告》指出，全球護士缺口達590萬人。大部分缺口位於非洲、東南亞、地中海東部和拉美部分地區。

Among regions of the world, the Americas have the highest density of nurses at 83.4 per 10,000 people, followed by Europe with 79.3 nurses per 10,000 people. In contrast, there are 8.7 nurses per 10,000 people in Africa, 15.6 nurses per 10,000 people in the Eastern Mediterranean region, 16.5 nurses per 10,000 people in Southeast Asia, and 36 nurses per 10,000 people in the Western Pacific.

按區域來劃分，美洲的護士密度是最高的，每1萬人中有83.4名護士，其次是歐洲，每1萬人中有79.3名護士。相比之下，非洲每1萬人中有8.7名護士，地中海東部地區每1萬人中有15.6名護士，東南亞每1萬人中有16.5名護士，西太平洋地區每1萬人中有36名護士。

But there are stark differences within regions. In the Americas, for example, countries such as Brazil, Canada, Chile, and the US have a higher density of nurses at close to or over 100 per 10,000 people, distorting the regional average. Many of the neighboring countries in the region have less than 50 nurses per 10,000 people. In Haiti, there are only 3.8 nurses per 10,000 people.

但是地區內部也存在顯著差異。舉例而言，在美洲，巴西、加拿大、智利、美國等國家的護士密度更高，接近或超過約每1萬人100名護士的水平，導致該地區平均值失真。該地區的許多鄰國每1萬人中護士數量不到50名。在海地，每1萬人中只有3.8名護士。

When broken down by country income, data in the report shows an unsurprising trend: The higher the income, the higher the nursing density. In low-income countries, the average density of nurses is 9.1 per 10,000 people, while the figure for high-income countries is 107.7 per 10,000 people.

如果按國家收入來分析，報告中數據顯示的趨勢並不讓人意外：收入越高，護士密度越高。在低收入國家，平均護士密度是每1萬人中有9.1名護士，而在高收入國家，每1萬人中有107.7名護士。

But training more nurses won’t solve the problem, said Dr. Giorgio Cometto, WHO coordinator on human resources for health policies and standards.

不過，世界衛生組織健康政策與標準人力資源協調員喬治·科梅託博士說，培訓更多的護士並不能解決這個問題。

“If the country lacks the economic capacity to employ them or to create economic opportunities for them to work as nurses ... training more nurses can just go into the direction of exacerbating labor market imbalances, resulting in unemployment among nurses. And that's a huge wastage of human capital as well as financial resources,” Cometto said.

科梅託說：“如果一個國家缺乏僱傭護士或爲護士創造就業機會的經濟能力……培訓更多的護士只會加重勞動力市場的不平衡，導致護士失業。這是對人力資本和經濟資源的極大浪費。”

exacerbate[ɪɡˈzæsərbeɪt]: vt. 使加劇；使惡化；激怒

The key is balancing training with the creation of employment opportunities in rural areas where there are known health worker shortages.

關鍵在於平衡培訓與在醫護人員缺乏的鄉村地區創造就業機會之間的關係。

That may be easier said than done, especially among countries that are suffering from chronic or complex emergencies, in active conflict, or struggling in the wake of conflict. But in these settings, the international aid community can align its assistance with national priorities and covering recurrent costs, such as salaries, within a specified period of time, Cometto said.

科梅託說，這可能是說起來容易做起來難，尤其是在遭受長期或複雜危機、正處於戰亂中或處於戰後恢復期的國家。但在這種情況下，國際援救團體可以根據國家優先級提供援助和承擔經常性費用，比如在特定時間內支付工資。