Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2001, published 90th ILC session (2002)

Nursing Personnel Convention, 1977 (No. 149) - Philippines (Ratification: 1979)

The Committee recalls its previous comments and notes the information provided by the Government in its report. It requests the Government to provide information on the following points.

Article 2, paragraphs 1 and 2, of the Convention. The Committee notes the information that the Department of Health, under the chairmanship of the Director of the Health Human Resource Development Bureau and the Nursing Adviser, in coordination with the Board of Nursing, the National League of Government Nurses Inc., the Philippine Nurses Association, the Association of Nursing Service Administrators of the Philippines and the Association of Deans of the Philippine Colleges of Nursing, has been preparing the Nursing Development Plan for the country for the past two years. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the contents of this plan and the measures taken for its application.

With particular regard to the training of nursing personnel, the Committee notes that the Health Human Resource Development Bureau of the Department of Health and 16 regional health offices are conducting training of trainers and a management course for multidisciplinary health workers, which include nurses and midwives in both hospitals and public health centres. It also notes that the various organizations of nursing personnel have developed training activities in the field of health. In addition, the Committee notes that nurses who intend to apply for work abroad take short training courses at the Philippine Heart Centre for Asia, the National Kidney and Transplant Institute and other speciality teaching training hospitals.

In addition, the Committee notes the information that a study on the situation of nursing care in the Philippines has been undertaken by a professor at the National Institute of Health of the University of Philippines, Manila, with a view to determining the magnitude of the problem of unemployment among nurses registered in the Philippines, determining the trends in the supply and demand for nurses and identifying the factors at both the local and international levels which have contributed to the problems, with a view to helping policy-makers find a solution. The Committee notes that the domestic and international demand for nursing personnel was 178,045 positions in 1998 and that, at the same time, there was an estimated surplus of 128,065 nurses. The Committee requests the Government to report on the conclusions of this study, with an indication of the solutions that have been found or are envisaged to the problem of the apparent saturation of the profession.

Article 5, paragraph 1. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government concerning the Board of Nursing, which has the mandate to regulate the practice of nursing and ensure the maintenance of efficient technical, professional, ethical and moral standards, taking into account the health needs of the nation. It notes that the Board of Nursing and nurses have initiated a series of meetings and a nursing summit to develop immediate goals and a plan of action designed, among other matters, to unite the nursing sector to ensure that there is a sufficient number of nurses in decision-making positions and to develop a strong relationship with policy-makers, to integrate the nursing service and education, to open opportunities to strengthen the independent functions of nurses and to decrease supply and increase demand. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the activities of the Board of Nursing.

The Committee also recalls that, under the terms of section 33 of the Magna Carta and Rule XVIII of its Implementing Rules, a mechanism is to be set up for continuing dialogue with health workers’ organizations at the national, regional and local levels. It once again requests the Government to provide information on this subject, with an indication, where appropriate, of the functioning of this mechanism.

Article 5, paragraph 2. In the absence of a reply from the Government on this point, the Committee is bound to reiterate its previous request, in which it asked the Government to indicate whether the enabling texts governing collective bargaining in the public sector, as revised, have been enacted and, if so, to provide a copy of them with its next report.

Article 7. The Committee refers to its general observation of 1990, repeated in 1994, in which it stressed the need to take measures to adapt the legislation on health and safety at work to the particular risk of accidental exposure to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among nursing personnel. In this respect, the Committee also suggested to consult with nursing personnel on such measures. Having not received lately any information from the Government on this matter, the Committee asks the Government to provide detailed information on the measures taken in pursuance of its recommendations, based on Article 7 of the Convention.

Part V of the report form. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, including statistical data on the numbers of nursing personnel, the numbers of students registered with nursing schools, the numbers of graduate male and female nurses who have not found employment and who leave the country or the profession, etc.