We are proud to share that our OpenWHO online courses now have 8 million enrolments! Our free platform is open to all, anytime, from anywhere. Since 2017, OpenWHO is free of charge and offers multilingual self-paced online courses on various health topics. Our team is forever grateful for your engagement in our OpenWHO learning community. Thanks a lot from the OpenWHO team!
On the 7th of September we celebrate the UN International Day of Clean Air for blue skies. The United Nations have marked this date as an effort to strengthen cooperation in improving air quality and reducing air pollution.
Clean air is vital for health and day-to-day lives of people, yet air pollution still persists being the greatest environmental risk to human health and one of the main preventable causes of death and disease globally. Air pollution is responsible for 7 million premature deaths per year. These deaths are mostly caused from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) – such as ischemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer – but also from acute lower respiratory tract infections, such as pneumonia.
All health workers would benefit from gaining knowledge and skills to protect individuals and communities from air pollution exposure, as well as to advocate for clean air.
OpenWHO launched a new course on "Air pollution and Health" to help understand, communicate and address the main health impacts of air pollution and which roles health workers can play to protect and promote people’s health. The course is made up of 4 modules with videos and interactive exercises. Participants have the opportunity to earn course certificates and digital badges to share their achievements.
Access the new Air pollution and health course here.
The Infodemic management channel includes training courses that provides an overview of the strategies, good practices, methods and tools that infodemic managers and all interested health workers can use in the field to prevent, prepare for and respond to infodemics.
Four new courses were recently added to the channel:
The OpenWHO team organized an online exhibition and experience-sharing event on 12 & 13 July 2023, showcasing how learners have used WHO’s free OpenWHO.org learning platform to protect public health in their communities. These case studies describe OpenWHO use on the ground by health professionals and communities, providing examples beyond what can be captured on the platform and contributing to the body of knowledge on the multiplier effect of open online learning.
You can access the video recordings of the presentations in the dedicated portal created in the OpenWHO platform here.
We are pleased to announce the following courses that were recently made available:
Mpox and the 2022-2023 Global Outbreak: This course provides a brief overview of mpox, including new insights on transmission, clinical presentation, preventive measures, and outbreak response.
Ebola and Marburg Diseases Screening and Treatment Center Design: This course, explores the fundamental principles and structural requirements underpinning the design and functioning of screening facilities and treatment centres in Ebola and Marburg diseases context.
WHO Global School on Refugee and Migrant Health: The course consists of video recordings from the 2021 School, which focus on sharing country experiences in addressing the health needs and rights of refugees and migrants, with an emphasis on specific thematic areas: health service accessibility, COVID-19, mental health, health promotion and health financing.
National Action Plans for Health Security (NAPHS): Leveraging WHO's New Integrated and Holistic Planning Approach This introductory level course provides a general overview of the NAPHS process and methodology.
Go.Data: Building Additional Dashboards in Power BI: The aim of this course is to provide learners with skills to create additional dashboards in Power BI using the data collected in Go.Data.
WHO-ICRC Basic Emergency Care: Approach to the Acutely Ill and Injured: This course introduces a practical and systematic management approach to emergency conditions.
Air Pollution and Health: An Introduction for Health Workers: This course examines the main health impacts of air pollution and which roles health workers can play to protect and promote people’s health.
Public Health and Pesticides: This course guides participants through a process of decision making for implementation, by adopting best practices of public health pesticide management.
Oral Health Training Course for Community Health Workers in Africa: The aim of this course is 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.
HHFA Data Collection Training of Trainers: This course equips qualified health professionals at country level with the core knowledge to facilitate training sessions for collection of HHFA data from health facilities.
We are pleased to announce that OpenWHO now has a total of 230 courses with learning resources spread across 71 languages. All courses can be accessed here. You can use the toolbar to filter courses by language and topic.
The Infodemic management channel includes training courses that provides an overview of the strategies, good practices, methods and tools that infodemic managers and all interested health workers can use in the field to prevent, prepare for and respond to infodemics.
Four new courses were recently added to the channel:
The Health Inequality Monitoring channel includes training courses about the foundations of health inequality monitoring, its application to specific topics and skill building. Three new courses became recently available to provide learners with practical guidance to the preparation of disaggregated data sourced from household surveys using different tools and softwares:
The End TB channel provides critical training on essential skills to facilitate the implementation of WHO’s End TB Strategy based on sound ethics principles and due protection of human rights. Two new courses were added to the catalogue:
You can access the most recent newsletter here.
Best wishes, OpenWHO team
Cambodia recently hosted its National Bridging Workshop (NBW) for One Health, making it the 50th country to participate in this global initiative!
Stakeholders from animal health, animal health and environment sectors in Cambodia have gathered in Siem Reap for a workshop as part of efforts aimed at strengthening preparedness at the human-animal-environment interface.
NBW are three-day national events facilitated by WHO, WOAH and FAO, bringing together 50-120 participants from public health, animal health and environment sectors to analyse and discuss their collaboration. The key output is a joint, operational roadmap that the three sectors pledge to implement together to improve their collaboration in the prevention, detection and response to zoonotic diseases and other health events at the animal-human-environment interface.
Over 2,800 participants from around the world had the opportunity to take part in such an event, which helps strengthen collaboration among the various ministries involved in the One Health approach.
OpenWHO topical channel on One Health hosts a course which provides insight into some of WHO’s work at the animal-human-environment interface, including National Bridging Workshops (NBW). You can access the course here.
On 19 August, OpenWHO joins the international community in marking World Humanitarian Day and honouring humanitarians who work to deliver life-saving assistance to people in need, #NoMatterWhat.
Our free platform offers online courses on more than 230 public health topics, including learning resources relevant to humanitarian workers and the communities they serve. One recently launched resource is the Basic Emergency Care (BEC): Approach to the acutely ill and injured course for first contact health workers who manage acute illness and injury with limited resources, which was developed by WHO and International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), in collaboration with the International Federation for Emergency Medicine (IFEM).
Well-trained first contact health workers are cornerstones of strong integrated health services to provide timely, quality care. BEC teaches a systematic approach to the initial assessment and management of time-sensitive critical conditions where early intervention saves lives.
Since its launch in 2015, the BEC course has been taught worldwide using a 5-day structure delivery through lectures, workbook questions, small-group case scenarios, multiple choice questions and skills stations. These modules on OpenWHO provide the essential knowledge covered in the 5-day course. The content is meant to be used as refresher material or as a ‘just-in-time' educational resource.
The course will take approximately 7 hours to complete. Participants have the opportunity to earn course certificates and digital badges to share their achievements.
To strengthen country capacity for Health Emergency Preparedness, Response and Resilience, Member States need to develop, implement and monitor National Action Plans for Health Security (NAPHS).
OpenWHO has launched a 2-hour introductory level course that provides a general overview of the NAPHS process and methodology. This includes the critical steps necessary to support the development, implementation and monitoring of 5-year strategic NAPHS, as well as 12/24 month operational NAPHS.
The target audience for this course is personnel responsible for the development, implementation and monitoring of NAPHS. Participants have the opportunity to earn course certificates and digital badges to share their achievements.
Sign up here: National Action Plans for Health Security (NAPHS): Leveraging WHO's new integrated and holistic planning approach
The OpenWHO team organized an online exhibition and experience-sharing event on 12 & 13 July 2023, showcasing how learners have used WHO’s free OpenWHO.org learning platform to protect public health in their communities.
A new portal is available with video recordings of the presentations given by OpenWHO learners and the posters highlighting their interventions so their stories can continue to be shared across the globe.
The portal includes open links to each case study for easy dissemination with your networks. Browse the mini-videos here.
#LearningSavesLives
Mpox is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus. It can spread from person-to-person and through contact with infected animals in enzootic areas. The clinical presentation is similar to that seen in the past with smallpox but less severe.
In 2022 to 2023, there was a large global outbreak of mpox affecting more than 110 countries, primarily driven by human-to-human transmission through sexual contact. In just over a year, over 90 000 cases and 150 deaths were reported to the WHO.
A new OpenWHO course aims to provide a general overview of mpox, with a focus on new information on the disease and lessons learned from the global outbreak. It is intended for health workers and the public to help make informed decisions and take appropriate preventive measures to protect themselves against mpox.
This course is designed to complement the OpenWHO introductory training on mpox and the extended training on prevention and management of mpox. It can be viewed before or after the first two courses prepared prior to the global outbreak.
A Certificate of Achievement will be available to participants who score at least 80% of the total points available in the course assessment. Participants who receive a Certificate of Achievement can also download an Open Badge for this course.
30 July is International Day of Friendship!
Help your friends stay safe from public health threats by sharing our free OpenWHO online courses. Learning is available in 71 different languages.
Ensuring universal access to immunization promotes better population health and improved outcomes across diverse aspects of development. Unfortunately, however, the benefits of vaccines are spread unevenly. Monitoring inequality in vaccination coverage is a way to identify where inequalities exist and where disadvantaged subgroups stand in terms of access to and utilization of health services.
A free online course has been launched in Ukrainian that examines the five general steps of inequality monitoring in the context of immunization programmes. The target audience is primarily monitoring and evaluation officers for immunization and people who have basic knowledge and experience working with immunization data.
The course was first released in English in December 2021. It is the 31st course in Ukrainian to launch on the OpenWHO learning platform in collaboration with the WHO Country Office in Ukraine.
#LearningSavesLives: OpenWHO stories from across the globe
What: An online exhibition and experience-sharing event showcasing how learners have used WHO’s free OpenWHO.org learning platform to protect public health in their communities.
When: 12-13 July 2023, with daily sessions at 9:00-11:30 CEST and 15:00-17:30 CEST.
Where: Learning sessions will be held on Zoom. Register here.
In February 2023, OpenWHO issued a Call for Abstracts describing how the learning platform has been used in local, national or regional contexts, or how learning content has been adapted for use outside the platform.
OpenWHO reviewed 420 submissions from across the world and 40 finalists have been selected to present posters about their work at the virtual event.
Visit our event page to browse the planned presentation topics, access social media materials to help us spread the word and more!
A new Bangladesh learning channel is now available on the OpenWHO platform in collaboration with the WHO Country Office in Bangladesh.
The channel currently hosts 3 courses in Bengali, with additional topics planned for the coming months. It is the 16th channel to launch as part of the Serving Countries portal, which provides countries with easy access to courses in their official languages to support their response to COVID-19 and other health threats.
You can view the other country-specific learning channels here.
What: An online exhibition and experience-sharing event showcasing how learners have used WHO’s free OpenWHO.org learning platform to protect public health in their communities.
When: 12-13 July 2023, with daily sessions at 9:00-11:30 CEST and 15:00-17:30 CEST.
Where: Learning sessions will be held on Zoom and live streamed on YouTube. Register here .
In February 2023, OpenWHO issued a Call for Abstracts describing how the learning platform has been used in local, national or regional contexts, or how learning content has been adapted for use outside the platform.
OpenWHO reviewed 420 submissions from across the world and 40 finalists have been selected to present posters about their work at the virtual event.
Visit our event page to browse the planned presentation topics, access social media materials to help us spread the word and more!
We are pleased to announce the following courses that were recently made available:
Mobile Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) installation: This course introduces basic concepts of satellite communications, as well of satellite transmission, and a step-by-step guide on how to set up three different models of WHO VSAT Quick Deployment Kits.
Environment, climate change and health for practitioners and actors guiding policy change: The course provides an introduction to environmental health, covering key facts, figures and available interventions on the most important environmental risks including climate change, air pollution, water, sanitation and hygiene, chemicals and others. It is tailor-made for key decision-makers at national, regional and municipal levels, government officials, community health workers, and UN and nongovernmental organizations planning or performing country work, among others.
Guidance on Operational Microplanning for COVID-19 Vaccination: This course is designed to equip learners with the knowledge, skills, confidence and resources to develop a comprehensive microplan for implementing COVID-19 vaccination that targets priority-use groups in a catchment area. It also provides guidance on integrating COVID-19 vaccination into planning for routine immunization and health system strengthening.
Harmonized Health Facility Assessment (HHFA) data analysis platform: This course introduces the analysis platform, showing how to use the platform to calculate indicators, create tables, charts and maps, and customize these outputs to suit country needs.
We are pleased to announce that OpenWHO now has a total of 209 courses with learning resources spread across 71 languages. All courses can be accessed here. You can use the toolbar to filter courses by language and topic.
The Infodemic Management channel includes training courses that provide an overview of the strategies, good practices, methods and tools that infodemic managers and all interested health workers can use in the field to prevent, prepare for and respond to infodemics.
As of now, the channel offers 3 courses. New topics and languages will gradually be added. Stay tuned!
This portal offers learning resources to support a country's response to COVID-19 and other health threats. Created in collaboration with WHO Country Offices and Ministries of Health, resources based on WHO scientific guidance are available in each country’s official language(s) to empower frontline health workers, policymakers and the public. Bangladesh is the most recent addition to our Serving Countries portal.
You can access the most recent newsletter here.
Best wishes,
OpenWHO team
The WHO Regional Office for Africa in collaboration with the Harvard School of Dental Medicines has developed an online course on oral health for community health workers.
To celebrate, a webinar will be hosted on 7 July from 3-5 PM CET. This event will provide the opportunity to formally launch the course on OpenWHO by introducing the course content. It will describe how the course can contribute to strengthening the oral health workforce and discuss how to move to the implementation phase towards integration of the course as part of existing health system strengthening initiatives.
The event will be held in English with simultaneous interpretation in French and Portuguese.
Please register here.
On 20 June, let’s work together to give refugees hope away from home – the theme of this year's World Refugee Day.
Since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis, millions of people have fled Ukraine crossing international borders. OpenWHO offers a 30-minute course to support health workers in hosting and receiving countries to provide quality and safe care that is responsive to the health needs of people from Ukraine seeking health assistance.
By following this free course, health workers will be able to identify and employ culturally responsive behaviours, practices, communication techniques and strategies that are respectful of a person’s cultural, religious and linguistic needs in the everyday provision of health services to refugees and migrants from Ukraine.
19 June is International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict.
OpenWHO offers a series of 5 courses that provide detailed guidance on the clinical management of survivors of rape and intimate partner violence:
This series is intended for qualified healthcare workers providing services to survivors of rape and intimate partner violence in humanitarian emergencies. It considers available resources, materials, drugs, and national policies and procedures.
You can learn more about International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict here.
As we observe Russian Language Day on 6 June, OpenWHO invites you to join one of our 39 free online courses offered in Russian. This includes courses to support the response to disease outbreaks, such as influenza and mpox, as well as additional health topics like vaccine safety and tobacco regulation.
The purpose of the United Nations (UN) language days is to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity, and promote equal use of all 6 official languages throughout the UN. You can learn more about Russian Language Day here.
As we mark World No Tobacco Day on 31 May, we encourage you to join our free online courses on tobacco product regulation. Both courses are available in English, French and Russian and offer the opportunity to earn certificates and digital badges to share your achievements.
Tobacco product regulation: Basic handbook (3 hours). Although tobacco use is a major public health problem, tobacco products are one of the few openly available consumer products that are virtually unregulated in many countries for contents, emissions and design features. In recent years, health authorities have become increasingly interested in the potential of tobacco product regulation to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with tobacco use. However, barriers to implementing appropriate regulation include limited understanding of common approaches or best practices, and a lack of adequate resources and/or technical capacity. In this 3-part course, you will first review the basics of tobacco product regulation and international guidance (Sections 1-2), steps to assessing regulatory needs and capacity and regulatory considerations (Sections 3-4), and finally, implementation and potential challenges, novel, new and modified tobacco or related products, and testing and disclosure (Sections 5-7).
Tobacco product regulation: Building laboratory testing capacity (2 hours). This course provides practical, stepwise approaches to implementing tobacco testing to improve tobacco product regulation. Such guidance is relevant to a wide range of countries in various settings, even those with inadequate resources to establish a testing facility. In this 6-section course, you will review testing in the context of a country's regulatory authority, 3 possible routes to a testing laboratory, contracting with an external laboratory, using an existing internal testing laboratory, developing a tobacco-exclusive testing laboratory, and WHO TobLabNet Membership (criteria, advantages and procedures).
You can learn more about World No Tobacco Day and this year's theme - grow food, not tobacco - on the WHO campaign site here.
We invite you to register for the joint certificate training programme on the “Whole-of-society approach to creating healthy, resilient and sustainable cities: Harnessing South-South Cooperation for a post-COVID era”. This is the 4th edition of a programme organized annually by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction Global Education and Training Institute (UNDRR GETI), UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), World Health Organization (WHO) and Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
Enrolling in the training is free; however, registration is limited to up to 1000 participants on a first-come first-served basis.
The training will take place on 7, 14, 21 and 27 June 2023 at 14:00 CET through the UNOSSC virtual training platform (access link will be provided to course registrants only).
The sessions will be held in English with simultaneous interpretation in Arabic, Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
Participants who meet the following requirements will be awarded a certificate of completion: 1) 75% attendance; 2) complete a course evaluation survey; and 3) pass an end-of-course exam with a score of 80% or above.
Please register here. Interested participants must complete the registration form by Wednesday, 31 May 2023.
The hands of health care workers play a critical role in keeping patients safe. As we mark World Hand Hygiene Day on 5 May, join our free online course to learn how – Available in 18 languages!
The 1-hour course provides a certificate and digital badge to participants who receive at least 70% on the post-test.
You can learn more about World Hand Hygiene Day here.
On 25 April, we invite you to observe World Malaria Day by joining the 11 000 learners enrolled in our free malaria elimination course. The course was just launched in French, adding to the English version released last year and expanding access to new learners.
All malaria programmes at national or subnational level need to be oriented to the activities and dynamic strategies required to achieve interruption of transmission, prevent re-establishment and achieve WHO certification. The course covers all relevant technical areas, including but not limited to malaria parasite biology, immunology and epidemiology; surveillance and response; case management; vector control and entomological surveillance; acceleration strategies; stratification to tailor interventions; and management and planning of an elimination programme.
The curriculum aims to equip participants with the knowledge and skills to plan, implement, monitor and evaluate a programme for malaria elimination and prevention of re-establishment of transmission. It is designed for health professionals responsible for planning, managing, implementing or evaluating malaria programmes or malaria elimination programmes.
A Confirmation of Participation is available to participants who complete 100% of the course material.
You can learn more about World Malaria Day and the 2023 theme “Time to deliver zero malaria: invest, innovate, implement” here.
World Immunization Week is celebrated the last week of April to highlight the collective action needed to protect people from vaccine-preventable diseases.
The theme of 2023 is 'The Big Catch-Up': We need to act now to catch-up the millions of children who missed out on vaccines during the pandemic, restore essential immunization coverage to at least 2019 levels and strengthen primary health care to deliver immunization.
As we observe World Immunization Week, we invite you to participate in one of our free online courses on immunization, including our inequality monitoring in immunization course.
Ensuring universal access to immunization promotes better population health and improved outcomes across diverse aspects of development. Unfortunately, however, the benefits of vaccines are spread unevenly. Monitoring inequality in vaccination coverage is a way to identify where inequalities exist and where disadvantaged subgroups stand in terms of access to and utilization of health services.
This 2-hour course introduces the general steps of inequality monitoring in immunization, which should be an integral part of a country’s immunization programme. A Record of Achievement and digital badge are available to participants who score at least 80% of the total points available in the final assessment.
You can learn more about World Immunization Week here.
WHO’s new policy on preventing and addressing sexual misconduct, which came into effect on 8 March 2023, enhances WHO’s legal and accountability frameworks for achieving zero tolerance for sexual misconduct and inaction against it. The umbrella term “sexual misconduct”, as introduced in WHO by the policy, encompasses all forms of prohibited sexual behaviour by the Organization’s staff and collaborators. The policy has been consulted extensively both at the 3 levels of the Organization and with external stakeholders.
To introduce the new policy, a 1-hour learning package is now available on WHO’s free learning platform OpenWHO.org. The policy is intended to ensure that all staff and collaborators are held to a common standard of conduct, and that measures are taken to both prevent and address all forms of sexual misconduct. The course also introduces WHO's 3-year strategy that defines our vision, expected results and the 10 priority actions over the next 3 years.
The course is available in English, with the opportunity to earn a certificate and digital badge if participants score at least 80% on the final assessment. The presentations are available in French for download, and subtitles will be available soon.
Please note this is an interim course. A comprehensive training will be published later this year.
This week, OpenWHO is celebrating 3 United Nations (UN) languages – Chinese, English and Spanish – as we observe their dedicated language days. The purpose of these language days is to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity and promote equal use of all 6 official languages throughout the UN.
In total, OpenWHO provides free online courses in 68 national and local languages to make learning more accessible to communities across the globe.
This new learning channel brings together resources for WHO, national counterparts and partners to outline the process of developing national investment plans to apply for additional resources, including Pandemic Fund resources.
A new course, resulting from a webinar series held by WHO in late March, has been made available to further support eligible countries, regional entities and implementing entities to develop full proposals for potential projects to be supported in this Pandemic Fund funding opportunity window, which is open until 19 May 2023. The recordings are available with subtitles in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
You can access the course here.
We are pleased to announce the following courses that were recently made available:
WHO's New Policy and Strategy on Preventing and Addressing Sexual Misconduct: This course is an introductory learning package introducing the new WHO policy on preventing and addressing sexual misconduct. This an interim course; a more comprehensive training will be published later this year. The course is available in English and the presentations are available in French for download, with subtitles available soon.
Foresight Approaches in Global Public Health: This course provides an overview of various methods and tools that can be used to understand emerging trends and changes with a futuristic lens and to explore their potential impacts on global public health.
Inequality monitoring in sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (SRMNCAH): This course introduces the general steps of inequality monitoring in the context of SRMNCAH. The target audience is primarily people involved in national SRMNCAH monitoring and evaluation efforts, including officers, plus programme managers who have basic knowledge and experience working with SRMNCAH data.
Health Equity Assessment Toolkit (HEAT and HEAT Plus): This course provides a practical guide on how to use both HEAT and HEAT Plus to assess inequalities. The target audience is monitoring and evaluation officers, data analysts and other technical officers with an interest in data analysis and reporting.
We are pleased to announce that OpenWHO now has a total of 203 courses spread across 68 languages. Three new languages were launched in the last month: Bulgarian, Luo and Nigerian Pidgin. All courses can be accessed here. You can use the toolbar to filter courses by language and topic.
Following the two simultaneous outbreaks of Marburg virus disease, one in Equatorial Guinea and in Tanzania, OpenWHO expedited the translation of its introductory Marburg course into the national and local languages of the affected regions.
The course is now available in English, French, Luo, Spanish and Swahili.
OpenWHO has been recognized as the Learning Platform of the Year at the 2023 Learning Awards. The awards are billed as “the highest accolade you can receive in workplace learning and development.”
The platform received recognition in view of its significant reach and impact during its first pandemic test: “We have empowered millions of people across the globe with knowledge to protect themselves and their communities, furthering WHO’s mission and establishing OpenWHO’s role as an effective knowledge-transfer platform for future pandemics,” the submission said.
As of April 2023, the OpenWHO learning platform provides more than 200 self-paced public health courses from WHO experts, including 46 for the COVID-19 pandemic, with a total of 7.6 million enrolments.
On 7 April 2023 - World Health Day - the World Health Organization celebrated its 75th anniversary. 75 years ago, countries of the world came together and founded WHO to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable – so everyone, everywhere can attain the highest level of health and well-being.
Visit the WHO 75 campaign page to learn more about this anniversary and WHO's work to achieve Health For All.
You can access the most recent newsletter here.
Best wishes,
OpenWHO team
Please save the date for a webinar on 25 April 2023, 13:00-14:15 CET, to launch a Special Issue on Inequality in Immunization, which is newly published in the journal Vaccines.
Register for the webinar here!
Immunization has been an exemplar in global collaborative efforts to advance health and social development. It is also a cornerstone of the world’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals and the imperative of “leaving no one behind.” Notwithstanding critical gains made in improving immunization coverage in the past few decades, recent evidence suggests that inequities persist owing to a complex set of drivers, that are not yet fully understood. Context sensitive pathways and strategies are needed to truly universalize immunization; existing efforts do offer some insights in this regard.
Published in the international MDPI journal Vaccines, this special issue on inequalities and immunization places emphasis on dimensions of inequalities alongside drivers of inequity, while also starting to train the spotlight on pathways towards immunization equity drawing from individual country and globally networked initiatives.
The special issue has been a collaborative effort led by Ahmad Reza Hosseinpoor with Devaki Nambiar of the Department of Data and Analytics (World Health Organization), in collaboration with Carolina Danovaro-Holliday from the Department of Immunization, Vaccines, and Biologicals (World Health Organization), Hope Johnson (Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance), and Aaron Wallace (US Centres for Disease Control).
Aligned with the commemoration of World Immunization Week, the launch of this special issue includes reflection on ‘the Big Catch Up’ (this year’s theme), while also signalling the centrality of equity in meeting our global commitments to universalizing immunization.
The webinar will feature video contributions from authors of the Special issue, insights and reflections from editors, with an open session for questions and answers.
If you would like to receive periodic emails from the WHO Health Inequality Monitoring team about events, resources and training opportunities, please sign up here.
On 7 April 2023 we are observing a milestone World Health Day: 75 years ago, countries of the world came together and founded WHO to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable – so everyone, everywhere can attain the highest level of health and well-being.
Visit the WHO 75 campaign page to learn more about this anniversary and WHO's work to achieve Health For All.
Learning is critical to Health For All so we also encourage you to spread the word about OpenWHO's 200+ free online courses with your networks. Wishing all our learners a happy World Health Day!
#HealthForAll #WHO75
WHO held a series of webinars in late March to outline the tools countries can use and the approaches they can take to develop Pandemic Fund proposals as part of broader national plans for health emergency preparedness, prevention and response. The full 5-day series is available on OpenWHO with computer-generated subtitles in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish, thanks to an expedited production process.
There is an urgent need for coordinated action to build stronger health systems and mobilize additional resources for health emergency preparedness, response and resilience (HEPR). This course will help countries to develop national health emergency investment plans, based on analyses of capacities, risks and vulnerabilities, to mobilize and access new sources of funding and technical support for strengthening HEPR, including from the new Pandemic Fund.
The Pandemic Fund will provide a dedicated stream of additional, long-term financing to strengthen critical HEPR capabilities in low-income and middle-income countries through investments and technical support at the national, regional and global levels.
Fully translated versions of the webinar materials will also be published on the HEPR learning channel in the coming weeks.
We know that learning is easier in your own language – That's why we are proud to have launched our 66th language on the OpenWHO platform.
Our introductory mpox course is now available in Nigerian Pidgin to support the ongoing emergency. With that, OpenWHO courses cover the 20 most-spoken languages across the globe.
Start learning in your language today!
WHO, in collaboration with UNICEF, FAO, World Bank, the Global Fund and GAVI, is holding a series of webinars 27-31 March 2023 between 12:00-14:00 CET each day to outline tools and approaches countries can take to develop Pandemic Fund proposals as part of broader national plans and priorities for health emergency preparedness, readiness and resilience (HEPR).
In order to participate, please register in advance through the following link and you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar: https://who.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_i1lVXQYMQsyfEZikXQ9sbg
You can now access our dedicated OpenWHO space that hosts recordings of the webinars, with new content released daily over 5 days. This online space was created to further support eligible countries, regional entities and implementing entities to develop full proposals for potential projects to be supported in this Pandemic Fund funding opportunity window, which is open until 19 May 2023.
This site is a space for webinar recordings and no certificates are available. This space is listed under the new HEPR learning channel: https://openwho.org/channels/hepr
The theme of World Tuberculosis (TB) Day 2023 is 'Yes! We can end TB!', which aims to inspire hope and encourage high-level leadership, increased investments, faster uptake of new WHO recommendations, adoption of innovations, accelerated action, and multisectoral collaboration to combat the TB epidemic.
As we mark World TB Day on 24 March, we invite you to join OpenWHO's free-of-charge e-courses on the End TB learning channel, featuring multiple topics linked to the implementation of the End TB Strategy. The courses are designed for specific target audiences and can be taken by the learner at their own pace.
The current courses focus on TB preventive treatment, rapid diagnostics for TB detection and drug-resistant TB treatment, amongst other topics. The following 5 additional e-courses are expected to launch in 2023: TB and mental health, screening for TB, national strategic planning for TB, and 2 courses on TB in children and adolescents.
You can learn more about World TB Day 2023 here.
Did you know that about 321 million people around the world speak French? OpenWHO wishes the entire French-speaking community an excellent French Language Day.
Learning in your own language is much easier, that's why OpenWHO, the WHO learning platform, has 79 courses on different public health topics translated into French.
The World Health Organization’s open-access learning platform OpenWHO.org has issued a call for abstracts to identify how our learning content is used in local, national and regional contexts, and adapted for use outside the platform.
All submissions are due by 15 March 2023. Click here to learn more and submit your 150-250 word abstract.
We are particularly interested in capturing how materials have been used in workforce training and emergencies, as well as in capacity-building contexts, to prepare for or respond to disease outbreaks or health events. Abstracts that are accepted will be invited to be made into posters to be delivered at an online exhibition in July 2023.
The case studies will serve as evidence of OpenWHO use on the ground by health professionals and communities, providing examples beyond what can be captured on the platform and contributing to the body of knowledge on the multiplier effect of open online learning.
On International Women's Day, we celebrate the women learning on our free online learning platform to strengthen public health.
52% of our OpenWHO learners are women, including 60% in key courses like our COVID-19 vaccination training for health workers. You can access all courses here.
This year's International Women's Day theme is DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality. On 8 March, join the push to make the digital world safer, more inclusive and more equitable.
Inequities in sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (SRMNCAH) throughout the world mean that certain population subgroups have systematically worse health outcomes and poorer access to services and interventions than others. Addressing inequities in SRMNCAH is central to achieving universal health coverage, protecting human rights, advancing gender equality, combating discrimination and improving the social determinants of health. Making progress in each of these areas is also vital to achieve WHO's Triple Billion targets and accelerate towards the health-related SDGs.
Regular monitoring and review of inequalities in SRMNCAH by stakeholders at regional, national and subnational levels is critical for evidence based decision making. The results of this inequality monitoring can also be used as an input (alongside other forms of knowledge and evidence) to determine where efforts and resources are needed to improve health and well-being for disadvantaged subgroups.
This informational webinar marks the release of a new WHO eLearning course: Inequality Monitoring in Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health. The course introduces learners to a five-step approach to inequality monitoring in the context of SRMNCAH, preparing them to apply these steps across diverse contexts and settings. The two-hour, interactive eLearning course is delivered through OpenWHO.org, which hosts free, self-paced online courses on a variety of health topics.
Date and time: Thursday 9 March 2023, 13:00-14:00 CET
Welcome: Stephen Mac Feely, Director, Department of Data and Analytics, WHO
About the eLearning course: Ahmad Reza Hosseinpoor, Lead, Health Inequality Monitoring, Department of Data and Analytics, WHO
Learner endorsements
Open session for questions: Moderated by Devaki Nambiar, Health Inequality Monitoring, Department of Data and Analytics, WHO
Closing remarks: Anshu Banerjee, Director, Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health and Ageing, WHO and Pascale Allotey, Director, Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, WHO
This course provides an overview of various methods and tools that can be used to understand emerging trends and changes with a futuristic lens and to explore their potential impacts on global public health.
Foresight creates space for thinking about new opportunities and possibilities, taking a longer-term perspective, and articulating current needs and priority actions that can be taken to shape the preferred future scenario.
Click here to join the course.
The target audiences for this course are:
Did you know that OpenWHO was recognized as the Learning Platform of the Year at the 2023 Learning Awards? OpenWHO was named the Gold Winner at a ceremony in London, England, on 16 February 2023. Click here for details.
The theme of this year's International Mother Language Day is “Multilingual education – a necessity to transform education”.
We are proud to offer free online courses in 65 languages to make public health knowledge accessible to as many people as possible.
Celebrate with us on 21 February! Click on the Courses button in the navigation bar and use the language filter to start learning in your language.
OpenWHO was deeply honoured to be recognized as the Learning Platform of the Year at the 2023 Learning Awards. The awards are billed as “the highest accolade you can receive in workplace learning and development.”
WHO's OpenWHO.org learning platform was named the Gold Winner at a ceremony in London, England, on 16 February 2023, after being selected as a Finalist with 7 other learning platforms. Gold is the highest level awarded and has the unanimous vote of all judges.
The award was based on a written submission, presentation and question and answer session before a judging panel, who were looking for “evidence of a platform’s alignment to a clear organisational need, stakeholder buy-in, learner engagement and adoption, and most importantly, impact on performance and what the platform has helped the organisation to achieve.”
The OpenWHO team suggested that the free online learning platform deserved recognition in view of its significant reach and impact during its first pandemic test: “We have empowered millions of people across the globe with knowledge to protect themselves and their communities, furthering WHO’s mission and establishing OpenWHO’s role as an effective knowledge-transfer platform for future pandemics,” the submission said.
As of February 2023, the OpenWHO learning platform provides nearly 200 self-paced public health courses from WHO experts, including 46 for the COVID-19 pandemic. Courses are available across 65 languages, with a total of 7.5 million enrolments.
The World Health Organization’s open-access learning platform OpenWHO.org is issuing a call for abstracts to identify how our learning content is used in local, national and regional contexts, and adapted for use outside the platform.
We are particularly interested in capturing how materials have been used in workforce training and emergencies, as well as in capacity-building contexts, to prepare for or respond to disease outbreaks or health events. Abstracts that are accepted will be invited to be made into posters to be delivered at an online exhibition in July 2023.
All submissions are due by 15 March 2023. Click here to learn more and submit your 150-250 word abstract.
We are pleased to announce the following courses that were recently made available:
Cholera Outbreaks: Emergency Preparedness and Response: This course outlines the objectives of a cholera outbreak response, how to detect and confirm cholera outbreaks and how to effectively organize the response including describing control measures. It also describes steps to take to be better prepared to respond to cholera outbreaks.
EWARS in a box: electronic early warning, alert and response system implementation in emergencies: This course covers all key aspects of establishing EWARS in a box, electronic early warning, alert and system in an emergency setting, providing step-by-step instructions, real-life scenarios and examples facilitating adult learning.
Neglected Tropical Diseases Monitoring and Evaluation Framework: In this course, you will be introduced to the framework for monitoring and evaluating progress against the road map for NTDs 2021-2030 targets, also called the M&E framework.
Latest WHO HIV service delivery and differentiated service delivery for HIV treatment: This webinar-based series aims to disseminate the latest WHO 2021 service delivery and differentiated service delivery recommendations and promote increased knowledge of the newest WHO HIV guidance to ensure all people living with HIV on antiretroviral treatment can access person-centred and high-quality HIV services.
We are pleased to announce that OpenWHO now has a total of 201 courses spread across 65 languages. All courses can be accessed here. You can use the toolbar to filter courses by language and topic.
The Harmonized Health Facility Assessment (HHFA) channel includes training courses that prepare country stakeholders for planning and implementing a HHFA, for analysing and interpreting HHFA data, and communicating the findings. Courses are available for various target groups with different functions within the HHFA process.
The following two courses are now available on the channel:
• HHFA: Data review, interpretation, and communication
You can access the most recent newsletter here. The newsletter highlights are also available in Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
Best wishes,
OpenWHO team
The World Health Organization’s open-access learning platform OpenWHO.org is issuing a call for abstracts to identify how our learning content is used in local, national and regional contexts, and adapted for use outside the platform.
We are particularly interested in capturing how materials have been used in workforce training and emergencies, as well as in capacity-building contexts, to prepare for or respond to disease outbreaks or health events. Abstracts that are accepted will be invited to be made into posters to be delivered at an online exhibition in July 2023.
The case studies will serve as evidence of OpenWHO use on the ground by health professionals and communities, providing examples beyond what can be captured on the platform and contributing to the body of knowledge on the multiplier effect of open online learning.
All submissions are due by 15 March 2023. Click here to learn more and submit your 150-250 word abstract.
Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are mainly prevalent in tropical areas, where they affect impoverished, underserved communities. They cause devastating health, social and economic consequences.
WHO estimates that more than 1.7 billion people require treatment for at least one NTD every year.
As we mark World NTD Day on 30 January, join one of the 19 courses on our dedicated NTD channel to learn more.
You can help spread the word about these free online courses on social media using the tiles available here.
26 January 2023 marks three years since WHO launched its first OpenWHO.org course on the then-novel coronavirus and started providing accessible, up-to-date and informative health knowledge for a diverse global audience amid the fast-evolving pandemic. As of this date, OpenWHO offers a total of 190 online courses, 46 of which address COVID-19 topics, and has totaled 7.4 million course enrolments.
To adapt to a multilingual world and best serve the affected global population, OpenWHO courses have been produced in a total of 65 languages, with an average of four languages available per course. 15 country-specific learning channels have been developed with WHO Country Offices to provide access in Member States’ official languages. All learning content has been created and vetted by WHO science and expert teams to ensure its scientific accuracy.
To have the widest possible impact and reach learners from remote communities to high-tech metropolises, including in health emergency contexts, OpenWHO has leveraged existing technologies and is offering simple, adaptable and accessible learning content. OpenWHO courses are provided in self-paced, multi-use formats so learners have the option to participate whenever and however works best for them, in line with the universal design for learning framework. Materials are also increasingly optimized for a world in which many rely on mobile phones to stay informed.
Feedback received to date shows positive and encouraging trends. An analysis of two surveys for the platform’s second most popular course – Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) in the context of COVID-19 – confirmed high user satisfaction, with learning needs overwhelmingly met. More than 95% of participants said they would change at least some IPC practices after the course, a majority of whom were women aged 20 to 39 years working in a health-related profession.
In addition, survey results from learners who followed the COVID-19 vaccination training for health workers confirmed the effectiveness of self-paced, multi-use formats from the user perspective, as well as the value of modular and low-bandwidth friendly materials to reduce barriers to access.
Finally, recent feedback indicates that OpenWHO’s learning reach has extended beyond the online platform as communities adapt materials to local contexts and key learners impart the knowledge they gained, creating a multiplier effect.
By harnessing the potential of simple formats and technologies to empower millions of people across the globe with knowledge to protect themselves and their communities, OpenWHO has helped WHO further the goal of supporting everyone, everywhere in attaining the highest level of health. Moving forward, this knowledge-transfer platform will remain an important and effective tool in the preparedness for and response to health emergencies across the globe.
Learning saves lives. That’s why WHO provides more than 190 online courses on public health topics for anyone interested, free of charge.
On 24 January, join us in celebrating International Day of Education by finding an OpenWHO course to help protect your community. Start learning today.
Help spread the word with WHO's LinkedIn post here.
OpenWHO delivers real-time learning for health emergencies across the globe, with a focus on courses for severe emerging diseases with epidemic and pandemic potential.
The platform offers courses on 33 diseases, including all priority disease categories identified under the WHO R&D Blueprint. To develop the priority list, a WHO tool distinguishes which diseases pose the greatest public health risk due to their epidemic potential and/or whether there is no or insufficient countermeasures.
In 2022, OpenWHO responded to 41 outbreaks through learning. The platform also produced courses to strengthen the response to other types of graded emergencies, including the flooding in Pakistan, food insecurity in the Horn of Africa and the conflict in Ukraine. In addition, OpenWHO hosts a suite of core emergency management courses and has refined its production systems to prepare for Disease X, a novel, unknown pathogen with pandemic potential.
On 27 December, commemorate International Day of Epidemic Preparedness by spreading the word about OpenWHO's free online courses with your networks. Learning saves lives – especially in health emergencies.
OpenWHO invites you to celebrate Arabic Language Day on 18 December by enrolling in one of 33 online courses available in Arabic on our free learning platform. The courses cover a variety of topics, including monkeypox, COVID-19, neglected tropical diseases, emergency management and community engagement.
In total, OpenWHO offers courses in 65 national and local languages to make learning accessible to communities across the globe. You can browse them here.
تدعوك منظمة الصحة العالمية المفتوحة للاحتفال بيوم اللغة العربية في 18 ديسمبر من خلال التسجيل في واحدة من 33 دورة تدريبية عبر الإنترنت متاحة باللغة العربية على منصتنا التعليمية المجانية. تغطي الدورات مجموعة متنوعة من الموضوعات، بما فيها: جدري القردة، فيروس كوفيد-19، أمراض المناطق المدارية المهملة، وإدارة الطوارئ والمشاركة المجتمعية.
في المجمل، تقدم المنصة دورات في 65 لغة وطنية ومحلية لجعل التعلم في متناول المجتمعات في جميع أنحاء العالم. يمكنك الإطلاع عليها هنا.
Millions of people have fled Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict in February.
Refugees and migrants from Ukraine may face challenges that hinder their access to health care in hosting and receiving countries, such as linguistic, financial and cultural barriers, discrimination and social exclusion. They have specific health needs and vulnerabilities requiring culturally sensitive care that recognizes the impact of migration and displacement on their physical and mental health.
As we prepare to mark International Migrants Day on 18 December, OpenWHO invites you to join our course Delivering quality health services to refugees and migrants from Ukraine. The course is designed to support health workers in hosting and receiving countries to provide quality and safe care that is responsive to the circumstances and particular health needs of people from Ukraine seeking health assistance.
Developed by the WHO Health and Migration Programme alongside clinicians providing health services to refugees and migrants, the 30-minute video course features 6 case studies that reflect the common health problems of conflict-affected populations fleeing Ukraine. Access the course here.
At least half of the people in the world do not receive the health services they need. About 100 million people are pushed into extreme poverty each year because of out-of-pocket spending on health. This must change.
On 12 December, celebrate Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day by joining a course on our dedicated UHC learning channel. The courses address a range of topics – from health systems resilience, to vaccine safety, to oral health – that support WHO’s target of 1 billion more people benefitting from UHC.
UHC means that all people have access to the health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship. Learn more about UHC Day 2022 on the WHO website.
As the United Nations’ public health agency, WHO has an important role to play in the global public health response to events involving the possible deliberate use of biological and chemical hazards against a human population.
The Chemical and Biological Deliberate Events (CBDE) channel hosts online training to provide basic knowledge for managing the consequences of a CBDE. A series of 3 courses is available:
On 12 December, please join WHO experts for a webinar introducing a new EWARS-in-a-box online training course on OpenWHO. During the session, you will hear about the importance of online training for emergency response, especially on early warning tools like EWARS in a box.
The free event will be held from 14:00 – 15:00 CET and is open to anyone interested.
Register for the webinar here.
OpenWHO launched a dedicated page with key learning resources for the Pakistan crisis. This page hosts a series of general courses on infectious diseases and emergency management that may be helpful in the context of a flood emergency. Some of the learning resources are also available in national languages such as Pashto and Urdu.
We are pleased to announce the following courses that were also recently made available:
Introduction to Nipah virus disease: This course introduces Nipah virus disease and outlines the signs, symptoms, diagnosis, transmission routes and epidemiology of the disease. It also discusses prevention and control strategies.
For a healthier world: safely managed sanitation: This course, part of WHO’s efforts to support capacity building globally, unpacks the health rationale for safely managed sanitation (SMS) and how programming approaches need to adapt to improve health outcomes.
WHO Good Reliance Practices: The aim of this course is to provide an introduction to WHO Good Reliance Practices (GRelP) and to advocate for the use of reliance in the regulatory oversight of medical products.
Monitoring methodologies for diet-related regulatory interventions to support a healthy food environment: This course provides guidance on how to effectively develop, implement and improve methods and systems for monitoring and enforcing food industry compliance, with particular reference to three key types of food regulations: labelling, reformulation and regulations on marketing of food and non-alcoholic beverages to children.
Measles and rubella outbreak preparedness and response in South East Asia Region: This course aims to support programme managers and outbreak response teams with outbreak preparedness, response and recovery in countries that have targeted measles and rubella elimination.
Antimicrobial resistance and infection prevention and control: In this course, you will learn about what antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is and how resistant infections occur, which pathogens cause the biggest problems globally and in the health care setting, the risk factors and causes of AMR and, most importantly, the role of IPC in reducing AMR.
Bloodstream infections: In this course, you will learn about case definitions of bloodstream infections (BSI) due to catheter use, their epidemiology and the risk factors for acquiring BSIs.
Outbreak Investigations in health facilities: In this course, you will learn how to identify a health care-associated infection (HAI) outbreak in your facility and what to do after a HAI outbreak is identified.
New translations
The following 13 translations have been launched this month:
Updates to course content
The following course materials have been revised to reflect updates to the technical content and are now up to date:
We are pleased to announce that OpenWHO now has a total of 190 courses spread across 65 languages. All courses can be accessed here. You can use the toolbar to filter courses by language and topic. You can also access our catalogues which show all courses and languages available here.
You can access the most recent newsletter here. The newsletter highlights are also available in Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
Another year of serving the world with free online learning for public health is coming to a close, and it would not have been possible without all of you. Thank you for being a part of the OpenWHO learning community. As we enter 2023, we will continue to work to provide you with the latest health knowledge to save lives, reduce disease transmission and protect the vulnerable.
Wishing you all a safe, healthy and happy new year.
Best wishes,
OpenWHO team
Across the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionally affected people living with disabilities, highlighting the need for disability-inclusive COVID-19 response.
On 3 December, OpenWHO will join the global community in commemorating International Day of Persons with Disabilities under this year's theme: Transformative solutions for inclusive development: the role of innovation in fuelling an accessible and equitable world.
OpenWHO is dedicated to tailoring its learning approaches to meet the needs of people living with disabilities. By doing so, OpenWHO helps make health information accessible across different communities, promoting equity in learning for health emergencies.
Learn more about the approaches OpenWHO has introduced in our recent article in WHO's Monthly Operational Update on COVID-19, available on p.16.