新冠肺炎疫情讓“護(hù)士荒”成為了全球性的難題。世界衛(wèi)生組織日前發(fā)布的 《2020全球護(hù)理狀況報(bào)告》顯示，目前全球有近2800萬(wàn)名護(hù)士，但仍有590萬(wàn)名護(hù)理人員的缺口。與此同時(shí)，護(hù)士在全球分布非常不均勻，其中最大的缺口在非洲、東南亞、拉美等中低收入國(guó)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(hù)士在抗擊新冠肺炎疫情前線發(fā)揮著重要作用。但是這些至關(guān)重要的醫(yī)護(hù)人員短缺給新冠肺炎病例日益增多的國(guó)家?guī)?lái)了挑戰(zhàn)。

“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(wèi)生組織總干事譚德塞在紀(jì)念世界衛(wèi)生日的演講中說(shuō)：“我希望世界從新冠肺炎中學(xué)到的教訓(xùn)之一是我們必須加大對(duì)護(hù)士和助產(chǎn)士的投入。”今年世界衛(wèi)生日的主題是肯定全球的護(hù)士和助產(chǎn)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(hù)士正冒著生命危險(xiǎn)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(hù)士在國(guó)際危機(jī)事件中的重要性并不是第一次被凸顯。埃博拉病毒暴發(fā)期間護(hù)士們也曾奮戰(zhàn)在剛果民主共和國(guó)和西非的前線。在利比里亞，護(hù)士是醫(yī)護(hù)工作者當(dāng)中感染人數(shù)最多的群體。

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(wèi)生組織新發(fā)布的《2020全球護(hù)理狀況報(bào)告》指出，全球護(hù)士缺口達(dá)590萬(wàn)人。大部分缺口位于非洲、東南亞、地中海東部和拉美部分地區(qū)。

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(qū)域來(lái)劃分，美洲的護(hù)士密度是最高的，每1萬(wàn)人中有83.4名護(hù)士，其次是歐洲，每1萬(wàn)人中有79.3名護(hù)士。相比之下，非洲每1萬(wàn)人中有8.7名護(hù)士，地中海東部地區(qū)每1萬(wàn)人中有15.6名護(hù)士，東南亞每1萬(wàn)人中有16.5名護(hù)士，西太平洋地區(qū)每1萬(wàn)人中有36名護(hù)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(qū)內(nèi)部也存在顯著差異。舉例而言，在美洲，巴西、加拿大、智利、美國(guó)等國(guó)家的護(hù)士密度更高，接近或超過(guò)約每1萬(wàn)人100名護(hù)士的水平，導(dǎo)致該地區(qū)平均值失真。該地區(qū)的許多鄰國(guó)每1萬(wàn)人中護(hù)士數(shù)量不到50名。在海地，每1萬(wàn)人中只有3.8名護(hù)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(guó)家收入來(lái)分析，報(bào)告中數(shù)據(jù)顯示的趨勢(shì)并不讓人意外：收入越高，護(hù)士密度越高。在低收入國(guó)家，平均護(hù)士密度是每1萬(wàn)人中有9.1名護(hù)士，而在高收入國(guó)家，每1萬(wàn)人中有107.7名護(hù)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(guò)，世界衛(wèi)生組織健康政策與標(biāo)準(zhǔn)人力資源協(xié)調(diào)員喬治·科梅托博士說(shuō)，培訓(xùn)更多的護(hù)士并不能解決這個(gè)問(wèn)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.

科梅托說(shuō)：“如果一個(gè)國(guó)家缺乏雇傭護(hù)士或?yàn)樽o(hù)士創(chuàng)造就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)的經(jīng)濟(jì)能力……培訓(xùn)更多的護(hù)士只會(huì)加重勞動(dòng)力市場(chǎng)的不平衡，導(dǎo)致護(hù)士失業(yè)。這是對(duì)人力資本和經(jīng)濟(jì)資源的極大浪費(fèi)?！?/p>

exacerbate[?ɡ?z?s?rbe?t]: 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(guān)鍵在于平衡培訓(xùn)與在醫(yī)護(hù)人員缺乏的鄉(xiāng)村地區(qū)創(chuàng)造就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)之間的關(guān)系。

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.

科梅托說(shuō)，這可能是說(shuō)起來(lái)容易做起來(lái)難，尤其是在遭受長(zhǎng)期或復(fù)雜危機(jī)、正處于戰(zhàn)亂中或處于戰(zhàn)后恢復(fù)期的國(guó)家。但在這種情況下，國(guó)際援救團(tuán)體可以根據(jù)國(guó)家優(yōu)先級(jí)提供援助和承擔(dān)經(jīng)常性費(fèi)用，比如在特定時(shí)間內(nèi)支付工資。

英文來(lái)源：Devex

翻譯&編輯：丹妮