If you’re looking to upgrade your skills in public health, disease control, or pandemic response — and you don’t want to pay for it — the OpenWHO platform is worth checking out. Managed by the World Health Organization (WHO), it offers free, high-quality online courses on health emergencies, infection prevention, and more.
What OpenWHO Offers
* Hundreds of free courses across public health, epidemiology, infection control, and emergency response.
* Many courses include a free certificate of completionafter passing assessments.
* Courses are organized by channels (themes) like COVID-19, antimicrobial resistance, infection prevention & control (IPC), outbreak preparedness, and more.
* The platform is self-paced, accessible globally, and supports low bandwidth / offline functionality for users in challenging connectivity environments.
* Many courses are available in local or national languages, making them more accessible to non-English speakers.
Who Can Benefit
* Health workers, public health students, NGO staff, community health volunteers, and anyone interested in understanding health emergencies.
* People in regions with limited access to paid training — OpenWHO’s free access helps bridge that gap.
* Learners wanting certificates or credentials to add to resumes or profiles.
* Teams in MSMEs working in health, sanitation, disease prevention, or related sectors wanting to upgrade their knowledge base.
Popular Course Examples
Some courses frequently offered on OpenWHO include:
Introduction to Infection Prevention & Control (IPC)
“COVID-19: Basics & Response” and related outbreak response training
Advanced and specialized IPC modules (facility-level strategies, multimodal approaches)
Tips for Using OpenWHO Effectively
1. Start with foundational courses(e.g. IPC basics) before moving to specialized topics.
2. Schedule regular lesson times — consistency helps with completing courses fully.
3. Download modules where possible if your connection is unstable.
4. Take the assessments seriously to earn certified badges.
5. Apply what you learn— e.g. in health facility improvements, sanitation practices, or outbreak readiness.
