Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Nursing Personnel Convention, 1977 (No. 149) - Azerbaijan (Ratification: 1992)

Article 2, paragraphs 1 and 3, of the Convention. National policy on nursing services and nursing personnel. With regard to the Government’s earlier indication that a new national health-care policy was expected to be formulated in the context of the ongoing health-care sector reform, the Committee notes that the Government’s last report does not provide any further details on the reform process and its outcome. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide in its next report full particulars on the implementation of the health-care sector reform, especially as regards the adoption of a national health-care policy, and describe how this policy is designed to impact on the quality of nursing services and the employment and working conditions of nursing staff. It also requests the Government to specify whether and how the employers’ and workers’ organizations concerned have been associated with the formulation of the new national health-care policy, as required by this Article of the Convention.

Articles 3 and 4. Nursing education and training. The Committee notes the general information provided by the Government on secondary medical schools, the duration of nursing studies and the five-year cycle of nurses’ certification. It understands that there are currently eight nursing schools as well as one school for postgraduate nursing education. While noting this information, the Committee would appreciate if the Government would provide detailed and documented information – including copies of any relevant laws or regulations, administrative orders or circulars – on basic and higher nursing education, study curricula, types of specialization in nursing care, training and skills-development programmes, qualification requirements for the practice of the nursing profession or the renewal of an authorization to practise as well as any other particulars bearing on the system and standards of nursing education.

Article 2, paragraph 2(b), and Article 5, paragraph 2. Employment and working conditions of nursing personnel. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes that remuneration levels for nursing personnel are now fixed by the Cabinet of Ministers Decree No. 2 of 9 January 2004 on the approval of the scheme, types and amounts of the salaries of the employees working in public health institutions financed from the State budget. The Committee requests the Government to transmit a copy of this Decree and to provide similar information on the remuneration levels currently practised in the private sector as well as an indication on the number of health-care establishments and the number of nursing personnel employed in the private sector. In addition, the Committee notes that according to a study of the World Health Organization (WHO), Health-care Systems in Transition – Azerbaijan, published in 2004, the average salary for health-care workers is the lowest of any economic sector. For instance, in 2001 the average monthly salary of a graduate nurse was about 52,000 manat (approximately US$65), or 25.4 per cent of the national average (205,000 manat, approximately US$255) and that of a junior nurse was 42,000 manat (approximately US$52), or 20.5 per cent of the national average. The Committee requests the Government to express its views in this regard and elaborate on any incentive schemes which may have been developed with a view to attracting persons to the profession and retaining them in it.

Article 7. Occupational health and safety of nursing personnel. The Committee recalls its previous comment in which it noted that special standards were being prepared for nursing personnel by the Ministry of Health in the form of occupational safety regulations and ministerial orders. It once again requests the Government to provide a brief overview of those standards and supply copies of the most relevant texts.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee notes that according to the Government’s report, in 2007, the number of nursing personnel amounted to 33,400 persons. It also notes that according to the abovementioned WHO study, the number of nurses and support staff is declining gradually and the number of nurses per 1,000 population has diminished from ten in 1990 to seven in 2002. The Committee requests the Government to supply up to date information on the practical application of the Convention, including, for instance, statistical data and characteristics of the composition of the nursing workforce (e.g. age, gender), the number of nurses exiting or joining the profession every year, the nurse-to-population ratio, copies of official reports or studies addressing nursing-related issues, any practical difficulties experienced in the application of the Convention, such as shortage or migration of qualified nurses, etc.