As we mark World Oral Health Day on 20 March, we are proud to host 5 free online courses to strengthen oral health developed by WHO regions, including 2 new courses developed by the South-East Asian Region. Join the 2 new courses and the thousands of learners who have already enrolled in courses developed by the African and Eastern Mediterranean regions:
NEW: Oral health care of pregnant women and newborns
Educating the health care professionals who work closely with women during pre-pregnancy, during pregnancy and post-pregnancy can play a crucial role in promoting oral dental care of pregnant women and their newborns.
This online course is intended to build the capacity of primary care teams providing antenatal and postnatal care to improve oral health of pregnant mothers and their newborns.
A certificate and digital badge will be available to participants who score at least 80% of the total points available in the final assessment.
NEW: Use of fluoride varnish to prevent dental caries
Fluoride varnish is one of the most widely used forms of professionally applied fluorides. It’s easy to use, effective and widely recommended for use in children and even in infants to prevent caries development. It also helps in the remineralization of early carious lesions.
This online course is designed to enhance the knowledge of the oral and dental care providers of various types of fluorides and their uses, and to build their skills on a simple application technique of a fluoride varnish to prevent dental caries.
A certificate and digital badge will be available to participants who score at least 80% of the total points available in the final assessment.
Noma: Training of health workers at national and district levels on skin-Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)
Noma is a serious gangrenous disease of the mouth and face, mainly affecting children aged 2 to 6 years in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite substantial knowledge gaps, it is reported to be linked with malnutrition, poor oral hygiene, immunosuppression and living in extreme poverty situations.
The aim of the course is to provide information about noma, and to increase the knowledge and skills of national and front-line health workers to help them prevent, identify and treat this disease. It addresses epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical features, diagnosis, treatment and public health considerations, including the human rights perspective of noma.
A certificate and digital badge will be available to participants who score at least 80% in the final assessment.
Oral health training course for community health workers in Africa
This introductory course aims to build the capacity of community health workers on oral health promotion, oral disease prevention and control, to meet some of the unmet demand for oral health services and strengthen the oral health system through a cross-cutting approach in the context of Universal Health Coverage.
This course consists of a competency-based training module for community health workers in line with “Promoting Oral Health in Africa” and “Mobile technologies for oral health: an implementation guide”, and teaching support materials for the designated trainers who will introduce the competency-based modules to community health workers.
A certificate and digital badge will be available to participants who score at least 80% of the total points available in all graded assessments.
"We equally commend the work of the over 4,400 health professionals and community actors in 11 noma priority countries that leveraged the WHO noma online course to enhance their capacities for the promotion of oral health, detection, and control of early stages of noma and referring same in 2023," said WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, in a 2024 World Oral Health Day message. "We applaud the resilience of the over 5,800 healthcare and non-healthcare workers, as of 29 February 2024, who embraced the online course on oral health for community health workers."
Promoting oral health in primary health care settings
Oral health is essential to general health and well-being at every stage of life. But it has been a neglected component of the public health agenda in several countries, including those in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), increasing the disease burden.
This course aims to improve the oral health prevention and control skills of primary-level healthcare and other professionals; enable the community to exercise more control over the factors that affect their oral health status; and provide the community an opportunity to actively participate in making decisions to improve their oral health and well-being. The learning package consists of 7 modules divided into 2 parts (basic and advanced), and includes video lectures and downloadable presentations.
A Confirmation of Participation is available to participants who complete 100% of the course material.