The annual WHO Barcelona course on health financing for universal health coverage (UHC) will be held on 20–24 October 2025 – an intensive training programme offered by the WHO Barcelona Office for Health Systems Financing, part of the Division of Health Systems of WHO/Europe, with the financial assistance of the Government of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, Spain.
This week-long course aims to equip policy-makers with the knowledge and skills needed to improve health systems financing and make progress towards UHC.
Why a course on health systems financing?
UHC – ensuring everyone can use quality health care without experiencing financial hardship – is a Sustainable Development Goal, part of the European Pillar of Social Rights and a core priority of the WHO European Programme of Work 2020–2025. Health financing policy plays a key role in moving countries towards UHC. By understanding the principles of health financing policy and assessing options for reform, policy-makers will be better able to design and implement effective strategies to improve affordable access to health care.
About the course
This edition of the course is designed primarily for countries or regions within countries in Europe with advanced health systems including, but not limited to, member states of the European Union. However, applications are welcome from the following experts and officials in all countries and territories of the WHO European Region:
- policy-makers or technical experts in the health sector
- policy-makers in charge of social policy
- senior managers of health insurance funds or purchaser agencies
- senior managers of service provider organizations
- experts involved in health systems reform.
Candidates should have prior training in health systems and extensive work experience.
Delivered in English, the course has trained over 1000 experts since its launch in 2011, addressing policy questions, such as why some countries invest more in health care than others, how countries can make health systems more efficient, and how to ensure affordable access to services even when resources are limited. Over the past 2 years, tailored editions of the course have been organized to support experts in Central Asia, the Western Balkans, Estonia, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
The course reviews policy instruments that are effective in improving health system performance through better health financing policy. It focuses on sustaining and strengthening affordable access to health care and addressing financial sustainability challenges related to population ageing, slower economic growth and the increasing cost of service delivery. The course is built around the following modules:
- coordinating health systems reform: aligning policy instruments with policy objectives;
- financial protection: securing affordable access to health care;
- raising and pooling revenues: getting more money for health;
- purchasing health systems: getting more health for the money; and
- aligning financial incentives and service delivery modalities: improving care coordination and patient health outcomes.
Watch the video to learn more about the course.
How to register
Applicants are invited to submit a completed online application form no later than 2 September 2025. Acceptance to the course is not automatic: participants will be selected based on several factors, including the relevance of course topics to applicants’ work functions, their level of prior training in health systems strengthening and language abilities.
Upon acceptance, participants will be required to pay a non-refundable registration fee of €100 to secure their place on the course. WHO will cover expenses related to tuition, course materials, lunches for all 5 days of the course and one social dinner. Participants (or their funding agency) will be responsible for covering their travel, accommodation and subsistence expenses while in Barcelona.
Please note that enrolment in this course is exclusive to participants from the WHO European Region and we can only accommodate a maximum of 50 participants.
For further inquiries, contact: eubar@who.int.