QUEZON City 4th District Rep. Marvin Rillo urged high school graduates to take up nursing in college because nurses are in great demand but in short supply.

“The nursing job outlook is very promising. High school graduates should include nursing in their list of college options if they want a stable and lucrative occupation in the years ahead,” the vice chairman of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education said in a statement.

The World Health Organization, in its State of the World’s Nursing 2020 report, projected that without action, there will be a shortfall of 4.6 million nurses worldwide by 2030.

In the Philippines, the shortfall of nurses is expected to be 249,843 by 2030, unless greater investment is made now to retain them in the local health sector.

Rillo filed a bill that seeks to increase by 75 percent the starting pay of nurses employed in government hospitals in a bid to slow down their exodus overseas.

In House Bill 5276, Rillo sought the entry-level monthly pay of nursing staff in public hospitals increased from P36,619 to P63,997.