Parliament, Wednesday, 12 May 2021 – The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Health, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, and the Chairperson of the Select Committee on Health and Social Services, Ms Maurencia Gillion, have joined the world in commemorating the International Nurses Day, as today marks the 56th anniversary of this very important day.
Dr Dhlomo and Ms Gillion said this day is remembered every year. They said: “This year is different as we remember and want to pay respect to nurses who have gone ahead of us, their families and their loved ones and the contributions that they have made in an exceptionally difficult year, 2020, when the country and the entire world was faced with the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Dr Dhlomo and Ms Gillion said the nurses have been at the forefront in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and have been a reliable resource for the good health of the society. “We cannot have health system without them, they are the backbone of the health system,” they added.
Dr Dhlomo said: “We pay tribute to the nurses who walk around like wounded tigers, wounded physically and wounded psychologically, and those scars that we don’t see for the heavy load of work that they carried in 2020, we salute them. We wish the nurses strength and we wish them that God can carry them through and give them energy to carry on under these difficult conditions.”
The Chairpersons said “we want to make sure as we celebrate this day that all our nurses and other healthcare workers are vaccinated and we begin to heal the psychological scars they have and they carry on in this fight against Covid-19”.
They said: “Happy International Nurses Day even under these difficult conditions, may the nurses continue like Florence Nightingale who was known as ‘the lady with the lamp’ who looked after wounded soldiers during a time of war.”
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, DR SIBONGISENI DHLOMO, AND THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES, MS MAURENCIA GILLION.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Ms Yoliswa Landu
Parliamentary Communication Services
Tel: 021 403 8203
Cell: 081 497 4694
E-mail: ylandu@parliament.gov.za
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