Washington DC, 17 December 2024 (PAHO)- The Virtual Campus for Public Health of the Pan American Health Organization (VCPH/PAHO) and the World Health Organization Academy (WHO Academy) will collaborate to expand and improve training opportunities for health personnel in the Americas. This initiative will enable WHO Academy to leverage the experience and reach of the Virtual Campus, a learning mechanism that has been consolidated in the Region for more than 20 years, designating it as its focal point in the Americas.
“With the support of WHO Academy, we hope to continue the expansion and growth of the PAHO Virtual Campus in the Americas, enhance the training of our staff and thereby contribute to improving the health of people in the Region,” said Dr. Rhonda Sealey-Thomas, Assistant Director of PAHO, during the announcement of the agreement.
The collaboration between the two institutions aims to ensure that countries and health workers in the Americas benefit from WHO Academy's educational offering, adapting its courses to the specific needs and contexts of the Region, and developing joint courses and initiatives.
The collaboration arrangement includes the following areas:
- Expanding in-person and virtual training efforts of the health and care workforce in the Americas.
- Developing projects and/or learning materials with regional academic institutions in Spanish and Portuguese.
- Enabling multi-platform access to online courses and interoperable digital platforms across all regions.
- Leveraging the technical expertise of both entities for tailored training programs and promotion of lifelong learning.
- Mobilizing resources to promote WHO Academy standards, research, and large-scale regional collaboration.
"This agreement seeks to promote learning throughout the professional career of health workers," said James Fitzgerald, Director of the Department of Health Systems and Services at PAHO. "The Virtual Campus has proven to be a key tool for technical cooperation by integrating education with the analysis of work problems in health services and encouraging reflection on the daily challenges faced by these professionals," he added.
WHO Academy, based in Lyon, France, aims to improve access to learning through online, hybrid, and in-person courses. It will facilitate the adaptation of learning experiences to meet users needs and will award them digital credentials to verify their competencies and advance their careers.
The PAHO Virtual Campus for Public Health (VCPH) is the educational platform of PAHO. VCPH develops and offers a wide variety of courses through a strategy of permanent health education. With more than 3.5 million users, it offers continuing education in the Americas, and has the experience and capacity to support skills development in the Region’s health workers.
