Statement from Michelle Nunn, CARE USA CEO & President, on the end of the COVID-19 as a pandemic after 3 years:
"The declaration of an end to the COVID global public health emergency by the WHO is much-needed good news. It is critical that we don’t move forward without fully incorporating and acting upon the lessons of the pandemic. One of the most important things the pandemic showed us, once again, is the critical role of our frontline health care workers. We must extend our support to the millions of women frontline health care workers across the globe – many of whom are underpaid or unpaid – and who helped end the pandemic. Before COVID, the world was already facing an acute shortage of health care workers. During the pandemic, tens of thousands of frontline health care workers lost their lives, and millions left their jobs. And as we look beyond COVID, we still need millions more frontline and community health care workers – especially nurses and midwives – to prevent and respond to the next outbreak. We must continue to stand in solidarity with health care workers everywhere – ensuring they are paid fairly, trained well, protected from disease and overwork, and that their voices are heard."