PRETORIA – As 12 May will mark International Nurses Day (IND), the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) will host a national event at the CSIR Convention Centre in Pretoria on the day to commemorate this special day for the nurses. The commemoration will be live-streamed throughout the country where nurses in all facilities will be part of the event virtually.
This year’s International Nurses Day is held under the theme: “Nurses: A Voice To Lead – A Vision for future healthcare”, which will emphasize the need to invest in nursing as a backbone of healthcare, as COVID-19 has highlighted this need greatly in many countries like South Africa.
The day is hosted by the International Council of Nurses (ICN), a conglomeration of National Nursing Associations (NNA) like DENOSA, which represents South African nurses. DENOSA will host the event in South Africa on behalf of South African nurses, as it does annually.
Minister of Health, Dr Zwelini Mkhize, will be part of the event and will deliver the message of support on behalf of the South African government.
The event will be addressed by the Vice-President of ICN, Ms Thembeka Gwagwa, and DENOSA President, Mr Simon Hlungwani.
This year’s event is held 15 months since the country was placed under COVID-19 lockdown. Since then, more than 1,5 million South Africans had been infected with COVID-19. Of this, more than 54 500 citizens have since been lost to the pandemic including more than 800 healthcare workers, mostly nurses. Despite this, at least 95% is the recovery rate of those who have been infected, which talks to the hard work that nurses and many other healthcare professionals have had to put in to shield South Africans from the jaws of COVID-19 despite the many challenges that they still work under.
And the war is not over as the country is bracing itself for the third wave of resurgence, at the time when healthcare workers are out of energy due to exhaustion.
DENOSA is cordially inviting the media to attend this special event for nurses, to be held both physically and virtually, as it will highlight many areas that the country needs to focus on in preparation for the next wave and future healthcare, straight from nurses themselves as front-liners.
Details of the event are as follows:
DATE: Wednesday, 12 May 2021
VENUE: CSIR Convention Centre, Pretoria.
TIME: 10h00 -14h00.
MEDIA RSVP by no later than COB on Tuesday 11 May 2021 (NB: All guests at the venue are required to complete an online COVID-19 screening questionnaire by, the very latest, an hour before the event starts):
MEDIA RSVP CONTACT: Sibongiseni Delihlazo, Communications Manager: 072 584 4175.
COVID-19 Protocols will be strictly adhered to.
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Issued by the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA).
For more information, contact:
Sibongiseni Delihlazo, DENOSA Communications Manager
Mobile: 072 584 4175
Email: sibongisenid@denosa.org.za