British Nurses Join the Fight to "Make Poverty History"

Thirty thousand children die every day as a result of poverty. But as the Make Poverty History Campaign says, “… it isn't chance or bad luck that keeps people trapped in bitter, unrelenting poverty. It's man-made factors like a glaringly unjust global trade system, a debt burden so great that it suffocates any chance of recovery and insufficient and ineffective aid.”

Back in February Nelson Mandella addressed a rally of more than 20,000 in Trafalgar Square. He declared, "Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings."

"The G8 leaders, when they meet in Scotland in July, have already promised to focus on the issue of poverty, especially in Africa. I say to all those leaders: do not look the other way; do not hesitate. Recognize that the world is hungry for action, not words. Act with courage and vision."

"Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom."

"Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom. Of course the task will not be easy. But not to do this would be a crime against humanity, against which I ask all humanity now to rise up."

"Make Poverty History in 2005. Make History in 2005. Then we can all stand with our heads held high."

From July 6 to 8 as world leaders arrive in Gleneagles, Scotland for a G8 meeting, the Make Poverty History campaign and many others will be on hand to meet them. Already nurses from throughout Great Britain have made their voices heard. In a run up to the G8 meeting nurses gathered inside a giant white wristband - the global symbol of the Make Poverty History campaign - in London's Cavendish Square to show their support for the cause. Dr Beverly Malone, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), is quoted in Community Newswire: "If you want to tackle poverty, then you have to tackle ill health. And to deal with ill health, you've got to have enough nurses and doctors.”

RCN is calling on G8 leaders to help developing countries train and retain their own nurses and doctors so their health services can become self sufficient.

In addition, the RCN says recruitment of health workers by all countries should follow acceptable guidelines so that developing countries are not adversely affected.

Ultimately the RCN wants the G8 to urgently address the exodus of health care workers from developing countries if they are serious about efforts to tackle global poverty.

Dr. Malone says, "Africa simply doesn't have enough health workers to cope with the scale of the challenges before them from malnutrition, high infant and maternal mortality, to fighting malaria and HIV.

"We respect nurses' rights to choose where to work, but need to make a firm commitment to health care systems in developing countries; otherwise millions of lives will continue to be lost in sub-Saharan Africa."

According to the World Bank sub-Saharan Africa currently is short some 600,000 nurses. It says the region needs, “an additional one million health workers by 2015 in order to meet the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals - three of which are directly related to health.”

While the developing world has a huge shortage of nurses, recruiters work to get the ones that are there to come to the more developed countries. In Britain a Code of Practice theoretically prevents the National Health Service (NHS) from recruiting nurses from certain developing nations. In fact, it happens anyway.

Says Dr. Malone, "The RCN wants to prevent back-door recruiting whereby nurses from developing countries start in the UK private and independent sector and then move to the NHS.”We urge the government to stop this practice by extending the Code of Practice to the private and independent sector. We also need to see other developed countries like the United States make a similar commitment to addressing this issue." Sources: Community Newswire, Make Poverty History, Staff Nurse, Royal College of Nursing (UK)