Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: Transforming Global Health Education – WHO Academy

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), shared on Linkedin:

“It feels like yesterday, when President Emmanuel Macron and I held a corridor conversation at the G20 Leaders Summit in Argentina in 2018 about the potential to revolutionise training for health professionals by setting up an academy.

In two weeks time, on 17 December, the journey will reach its first key milestone — the WHO Academy inauguration in Lyon.

The Academy’s vision is straightforward yet ambitious: a world where every health and care worker, policymaker and WHO team member is equipped with the skills and competencies they need to achieve health for all.

I invite all Member States and health professionals around the world to join us in celebrating this moment and help us make the WHO Academy a centre of excellence for the whole world!

Transforming Global Health Education: WHO Academy

It feels like yesterday, when President Emmanuel Macron and I held a corridor conversation at the G20 Leaders Summit in Argentina in 2018 about the potential to revolutionise training for health professionals by setting up an academy. This month, on 17 December, the journey will reach its first key milestone — the WHO Academy inauguration in Lyon.

The Academy is a cornerstone of WHO’s Transformation agenda, launched in 2017 to make the organization more responsive to country needs. Among the major shifts in strategy, processes, financing, and culture, the Academy stands out as a vehicle to build up the capacities of WHO’s workforce and Member States alike.

When we ask Member States what is needed most, the answer is consistent: training and capacity building. While WHO has long supported capacity-building efforts, these have lacked the scale and institutionalization needed for global impact. The Academy changes that by delivering lifelong learning at the scale required to achieve health for all.

The Academy’s vision is straightforward yet ambitious: a world where every health and care worker, policymaker and WHO team member is equipped with the skills and competencies they need to achieve health for all.

The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the critical value of health workers while exposing a global shortage of 10 million. Lifelong learning, combined with the latest scientific advances, will be key to bridging this gap and enhancing quality worldwide.

WHO has always been a leader in technical guidance across health issues, but implementing these standards has often been a challenge due to inadequate training. The Academy helps bridge this gap by offering cutting-edge learning solutions tailored to the needs of today’s health workforce, including emergency preparedness and response.

With generous support from the Government of France, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, and the Lyon Métropole, the Academy features:

• A state-of-the-art learning campus in Lyon for in-person and remote training.
• An intelligent online learning platform offering free access to world-class courses on priority health topics.

Next month’s ceremony marks the official opening of the Lyon campus and the global launch of hundreds of courses on the online platform. Early-release courses, available since 2023, have already refined the learner experience, paving the way for the Academy to become WHO’s central hub for health training.

I invite all Member States and health professionals around the world to join us in celebrating this moment and help us make the WHO Academy a centre of excellence for the whole world!”

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), a position he has held since 2017. In this role, he has led global health initiatives and responses to public health emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, Dr. Tedros served as Ethiopia’s Minister of Health, where he significantly improved healthcare infrastructure and expanded access to health services. He also served as Ethiopia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, strengthening international diplomatic relations and advocating for health as a key component of global development.