• By 2028, the Academy will reach a total population of 3 million health and care workers, 900 decision-makers and 13 000 public health and healthcare managers. It will also support a number of national institutes for health training.  
• The WHO Academy produce 50 to 80 courses annually from 2025 to 2028, totaling approximately 260 new courses by 2028, including flagships and special programmes.   
• In line with WHO’s Fourteenth General Programme of Work (GPW 14), the WHO Academy will help promote, protect through offering learning opportunities in 16 priority health areas covering : Physical and mental health, Health systems strengthening, and transversal priorities.  
• Our approach leverages cutting-edge technology, including a multilingual Learning Experience Platform available in 25 languages, to deliver personalized, learner-centered experiences. Through strategic partnerships, we work to enhance cultural relevance, advance accessibility, and strengthen localized training efforts, ensuring that health education is globally accessible and impactful.   

Addressing the ever-growing scale and diversity of skills needs in the health sector requires to mobilize a variety of delivery modes including eLearning, blended learning, instructor-led learning and on-the-job learning. Health and care workers need continuous access to learning opportunities throughout their careers to acquire new knowledge, adapt to evolving healthcare practices and develop essential new skills for public health functions. 

Lifelong learning is essential to enable health workers to adapt to new technologies, emerging diseases, and changing healthcare practices. It supports career progression and contributes to the overall improvement of health systems and population health outcomes.  

The WHO Academy’s learning strategy aims to promote lifelong learning in the health sector by ensuring equitable access to learning content on priority health topics, enhancing learning quality through rigorous application of a competency-based approach, and providing the right learning at the right time throughout health workers’ careers. 

Our strategy is centered on a competency-based education (CBE) approach, which underpins every aspect of our process, including course design, delivery modes, teaching tools, learning activities, assessment and recognition of learning achievement, the evaluation of learning impact, and the transfer to practice.  

Competency-based education is a learner centric and outcomes-based approach to learning. It identifies the development of competencies, that is the abilities of learners to integrate and apply the relevant knowledge, skills and attitudes, as the key outcome of impactful learning.  

The WHO Academy designs competency-based learning that maximizes the potential of education to effectively meet population health needs. The quality and relevance of health worker knowledge, skills and competencies are ensured by aligning learning with population health needs and workforce requirements. 

Additionally, the Academy aims to provide universal and equitable access to online learning on the Learning Experience Platform (LXP). Both the content and platform are designed for inclusion and accessibility. This approach adapts to the learner’s profile and context, such as preferred language or educational background.  

Features like offline mode, seamless progress updates, and mobile optimization ensure a smooth learning experience and address connectivity challenges. Printable resources and audio content cater to diverse learning preferences and accessibility needs. 

Online: Through the cutting-edge LXP, accessible from desktop and mobile devices. The LXP includes instructor-led virtual classrooms, MOOCs, self-service digital libraries, WHO guidelines, recorded classes, and more. 

In-person: Access to the Academy’s hub in Lyon for workshops, a world-class simulation centre for simulation-based and gamified learning, and learning events or summer schools for health conferences and seminars. 

Blended learning: Combines the online and field delivery of the training programmes. These are adapted and localized for the WHO regions, Member States and partner learning institutes.  

Hybrid classrooms:  Academy's Lyon campus has invested in state-of-the-art hybrid classrooms. Best practices will be developed to optimize the use of these connected classrooms for courses and programmes adapted to this mode of learning. 

Simulation-based learning: The WHO Academy’s simulation centre is a state-of-the-art facility for medical education and emergency preparedness. Equipped with advanced sensors and software, it offers a forward-thinking approach to training healthcare professionals. 

Innovation hub: Designed to foster innovations in health, including process improvements, new learning models, and technological advancements. 

Social learning: Recognizing the value of social learning in work-based and adult education, the WHO Academy will incorporate social learning through communities of practice and group learning.   

By providing continuous learning opportunities, the Academy aims to ensure that health and care workers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and competencies necessary to address evolving challenges in healthcare.