Marks caused by the mask are seen on the face of a nurse at the Fuzhou Pulmonary Hospital in Fuzhou, Fujian province, Jan 31, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

Supporting dedicated professionals to help them save lives highly encouraged

President Xi Jinping encouraged the country's nurses on Monday to make new contributions to promote the building of the Healthy China initiative and maintain the security of global public health.

In greetings sent to nurses across the country ahead of International Nurses Day on Tuesday, Xi complimented the nurses for their brave fight against the novel coronavirus disease both in China and overseas.

Nurses have made significant contributions to disease prevention and control, and they have demonstrated the great spirit of respecting lives, saving patients, being dedicated to giving of themselves and showing great love for others across borders, Xi said.

Newly recruited nurses take an oath during a capping ceremony at Peking University People's Hospital in Beijing, capital of China, April 26, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

More than 28,600 nurses have been sent to the front lines of disease prevention and control since the COVID-19 outbreak, according to the National Health Commission.

Noting that nursing is an important part of health services, Xi instructed Party committees and governments at all levels to care for nurses.

He stressed the importance of strengthening the building of nurse teams and improving mechanisms to help excellent nurses to remain focused on their careers. Society as a whole should understand and support nurses, he added.

The president said that he hoped nurses would uphold good traditions, develop their humanitarian spirit and make further efforts for the health of the Chinese people and the public health of the world.

In a report delivered during the Communist Party of China's 19th National Congress in late 2017, Xi, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, put forward the Healthy China initiative.

Under the initiative, China will improve its national health policy, deepen reform of the healthcare system and develop a sound modern hospital management system.

International Nurses Day, which falls on May 12, was established in 1974 by the International Council of Nurses to commemorate the birth in 1820 of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.