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

Nursing Personnel Convention, 1977 (No. 149) - Iraq (Ratification: 1980)

Article 2, paragraph 2, of the Convention. National policy concerning nursing services and nursing personnel. The Committee is mindful of the difficult situation that the country continues to face and appreciates the Government’s efforts to revise its labour legislation and reorganize public services and institutions. The Committee understands that in view of the protracted period of war and violence in recent years, the strengthening of the health-care sector and the improvement of the working conditions of health-care workers must be one of the key priorities of the ongoing national reconstruction. It also understands that principally, due to insecurity, there has been a mass exodus of medical staff. According to some reports, more than half of Iraq’s doctors, nurses and pharmacists have fled the country over the past four years – while many hospitals and medical teaching facilities have lost up to 80 per cent of their teaching staff. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide a comprehensive account of any action plans, programmes or initiatives undertaken with a view to formulating a general health policy which would also include targeted action for the amelioration of the quantity and quality of nursing care. The Committee would particularly appreciate if the Government would outline the existing parameters of the health-care system (in particular, legislative framework, institutions, human resources) and elaborate on any existing framework for consulting with employers’ and workers’ organizations on policy concerning nursing services and nursing personnel. The Committee would also appreciate receiving a copy of the Health Professionals Act No. 6 of 2000, to which reference is made in the Government’s report.

Article 3. Nursing education and training. The Committee notes the Government’s reference to specialized institutes responsible for the education and training of qualified health workers. It requests the Government to provide more detailed information on the basic requirements of nursing education (duration, levels of education, study curricula, continuing education and training, etc.).

Article 4. Practice of the nursing profession. The Committee requests the Government to provide full particulars, including copies of any relevant legislative or administrative texts, on the conditions under which persons may be authorized – through a system of certification or licensing – to practise the nursing profession.

Article 6. Employment and working conditions. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that as an incentive for promoting work in the field of health care, it has been decided to support health-care workers, including nursing staff, by granting an additional allowance amounting to 50 per cent of their salaries. The Committee requests the Government to transmit a copy of the abovementioned decision as well as additional information on any other incentives designed to compensate nursing personnel for the constraints and hazards inherent in the profession.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. Recalling that the Government has last communicated general information on the practical application of the Convention in 1986, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would make an effort to collect and supply up to date information in this respect, including for instance, statistics on the number of registered and practising nurses, the nurse-to-population ratio, the number of nursing schools and the number of students attending and graduating every year, copies of official reports or studies addressing nursing-related issues, any practical difficulties encountered in applying the Convention, etc.