Geneva [Switzerland], December 2 : Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that the WHO Academy is set to open in Lyon, France in two weeks' time.
https://x.com/DrTedros/status/1863524740545028274
Taking to X, the WHO chief shared that the idea for the creation of the Academy took place when he held a "corridor conversation" with French President Emmanuel Macron at the G20 Leaders Summit in Argentina in 2018. The two leaders had discussed 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", Ghebreyesus wrote in a post on X.
He noted that 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.
In his post, he said that when asked Member States about what is needed the most, the consistent answer is 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", he wrote on X.
The WHO Chief said that the Academy's vision is ambitious about 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.
He brought to attention that the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted 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", he said.
"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", Ghebreyesus said.
"With generous support from the Government of France, the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region, and the Lyon Metropole, 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" he added.
The WHO Chief invited all the Member States and health professionals from around the world to join in celebrating this key moment to make the WHO Academy a centre of excellence for the whole world.
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