Building capacity of professionals is key to addressing public health challenges effectively and establishing robust and resilient health systems that provide high-quality care for everyone. This is why, together with partners, WHO/Europe has developed several annual training courses to support senior and aspiring health leaders in enhancing their skills and competencies.
The 3 courses held during WHO/Europe’s first Health Systems Capacity Building Week last month included:
- the second edition of the WHO European Public Health Leadership Course, to specifically strengthen public health professionals’ leadership competencies;
- the second edition of the WHO/Europe Executive Course on Health Workforce Leadership and Management, to help health leaders and policy-makers to support their health workforce; and
- the eleventh edition of the WHO Barcelona Course on Health Financing for Universal Health Coverage (UHC), designed to equip policy-makers with the knowledge and skills needed to improve health systems financing and make progress towards UHC.
Empowering public health leaders
Countries in the WHO European Region are facing unprecedented challenges: climate change, urbanization, socioeconomic turbulence, noncommunicable diseases, mental and behavioural health risks, misinformation, inequalities, and an exhausted health and care workforce. To tackle these, countries need to identify their underlying causes and invest in informed public health leadership.
The second WHO European Public Health Leadership Course, developed with the University of Bordeaux, brought together public health professionals from over 30 countries. For 2 weeks, participants immersed themselves in real-world or hypothetical scenarios presented by facilitators to enhance their leadership skills, including sessions focusing on innovation, governance, self-management, professional growth, and problem-solving.
“In addition to the practical skills we developed during those weeks, the network we created and the conversations we had with other trainees are exceptional opportunities to understand global health dynamics,” shared Delphine Rahib, Research Manager at Santé publique France, who attended the course.
Strengthening health workforce management
Understanding the intricate dynamics of health systems is crucial for shaping effective health policies, and a key component of this understanding lies in grasping the complexities of the health workforce.
As part of the comprehensive support to countries in the WHO European Region to advance their health workforce policies, the WHO Regional Office for Europe hosted the second round of its executive course on health workforce leadership and management in Copenhagen – this time for representatives of the Small Countries Initiative (SCI).
Twenty participants from 9 SCI countries and representatives from Greenland and Ukraine explored ways to make sustainable plans on numbers and skills of health workers, as well as the importance of self-sufficiency, intersectoral collaboration, and the role of human-centred design. This was an important opportunity for small countries working towards achieving the 2025 SCI Roadmap goal of having a standalone human resources for health (HRH) strategy or HRH strategy within another health plan or strategy.
“Strategic data-driven planning, retention, resourcing and leadership were among the topics covered. It was a unique opportunity to share our experiences and listen to others. A very positive experience, which we definitely recommend to others,” said the delegation of experts from the Ministry for Health of Malta, which included Maureen Mahoney, Gwen Gatt, and Veronica Montebello.
Improving health financing for UHC
Health financing policy is key in moving countries towards UHC. Ensuring that everyone can access quality health care without experiencing financial hardship is a Sustainable Development Goal, part of the European Pillar of Social Rights and a core priority of the WHO European Programme of Work, 2020–2025. By understanding the principles of health financing policy and assessing options for reform, policy-makers can better design and implement effective strategies to improve affordable access to health care.
“We gained invaluable insights into different strategies and policy options to introduce health financing reforms in our countries. It made us appreciate the value of UHC more than we had before,” said Irina Luceska, Head of the Department for Budget Coordination and Negotiation, Sector for Finance, Health Insurance Fund of the Republic of North Macedonia, who attended the WHO Barcelona Course on Health Financing for UHC organized by the WHO Barcelona Office for Health Systems Financing.
Over the course of 5 days, participants attended theoretical classes and engaged in practical exercises, collaborating to analyse health systems in different countries and identify gaps in coverage, revenue collection, and procurement.
Find more information about the trainings and upcoming courses by visiting the pages listed under ‘Related’.