Union minister Ashwini Choubey said on October 8 that there is a need to empower nurses and midwives as they play a vital role in providing basic medical services.

The MoS for Health also said they need to be perceived as equal partners in the healthcare sector. "To meet the future needs of the growing healthcare sector and constantly increasing disease burden, there is a need to empower our nurses and perceive them as equal partners in health care," Choubey said after inaugurating the second BRICS Nurses Forum hosted by Indian Nursing Council here.

He said the government was committed to develop the capacities of health care professionals, especially nurses and has taken several necessary steps towards improved governance in India's public health system, through establishment of robust recruitment, selection, promotion and transfer policies for our nurses.

"The government is determined for making significant improvements in nursing and midwifery education and services in the light of recommendations proposed under the 12th five year plan and National Health Policy 2017," the minister said.

He said the objective of the conference was to enhance the communication and understanding among the BRICS nations on contribution of nursing sector towards achieving universal health coverage in relation to nursing policies and practices. "It is pertinent to note here that BRICS nations represent more than 40 per cent of worlds' population and about 40 per cent of global burden of diseases, playing an important role in the global health affairs," Choubey said.

"The nursing cooperation of the BRICS nations will be of significance to the global disease prevention and improving people's health in the BRICS nations. This will be beneficial as we face many common health challenges," he said. This conference aims at creating a platform for enabling networking of institutes, learning from best practices in BRICS countries and creating avenues for inter-professional collaborations and research.

It will see deliberations on nursing education regulation practice in the BRICS nations. Around 30-40 delegates from professional nursing associations from BRICS countries i.e. Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa are part of the second BRICS Nurses Forum along with 150 nursing professionals from India.

China hosted the 1st BRICS Nurses Forum in 2016 and BRICS nurses' associations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding nursing co-operation for the BRICS countries in Beijing in 2016. The objective of the MoU is mutual learning and respect for cultural differences.