WHO Free Online Courses (OpenWHO) - Learn Public Health Skills for Free - NAIJA STICK

WHO Free Online Courses (OpenWHO) - Learn Public Health Skills for Free

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

Start with foundational courses(e.g. IPC basics) before moving to specialized topics.

Schedule regular lesson times - consistency helps with completing courses fully.

• Download modules where possible if your connection is unstable.
• Take the assessments seriously to earn certified badges.
• Apply what you learn - e.g. in health facility improvements, sanitation practices, or outbreak readiness.

How to Access

Go to OpenWHO.org

Browse or search for courses by keyword, theme/channel, or level (beginner, intermediate, advanced)

• Enroll in the course you like (many are open enrollment)
• Complete course modules and assessments to earn a certificate

There is no registration fee, and courses are open to anyone, anywhere.