President Macron and WHO Director-General Launch WHO Academy In Lyon To Shape Future Health Leaders

The WHO Academy in Lyon, France, officially opened yesterday with a special inauguration ceremony. The event was attended by WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, French President H.E. Emmanuel Macron, along with health ministers, international representatives, donors, and local French partners. The WHO Academy is a great initiative aimed at improving the global health workforce. 

It offers the most extensive lifelong training program ever created in public health. Through in-person training in Lyon and online courses accessible worldwide, the Academy will provide health professionals, policymakers, and the WHO workforce with essential skills, knowledge, and the latest advancements in public health.

Through partnerships with top academic and research institutes worldwide, the WHO Academy aims to address critical weaknesses in health systems. One of the biggest challenges is the growing global shortage of healthcare workers, which is expected to reach 10 million by 2030. This shortage will be most felt in low- and middle-income countries, especially in Africa. 

Additionally, there is a widening gap in access to the latest research and innovations. To tackle these issues, the WHO Academy will focus on providing access to advanced technology in health and care, including AI, and supporting research and development in the field. This will help boost capacity and improve efficiency in health systems worldwide.

Launched seven years ago, the WHO Academy has become a groundbreaking initiative, supported by the Government of France, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Lyon City and Métropole, and other global partners. Its new, state-of-the-art campus covers 11,000 square meters and includes 22 training rooms, two distance-learning rooms, a simulation center, an emergency operations center, a TV recording studio, a modern auditorium, and a library.

The Academy also offers an online learning platform, making world-class health education accessible to everyone. This platform provides free, advanced courses on key health topics, ensuring that professionals around the world have access to top-quality training, no matter where they are.

President Emmanuel Macron, said in a statement, "Today we can be proud to open in the city of Lyon the doors of a new global institution, which will bring the best in terms of health training and innovation to the world. The latest tech and AI developments will be very powerful to make healthcare more accessible everywhere. This investment will benefit us all, because better trained health workers are absolutely critical to make our world safer, including to prevent and respond to future pandemics. I trust this strong partnership with WHO will demonstrate our trust in its capacity to guide our health policies across the globe and to coordinate our actions, to be always more efficient to serve our people on the ground."

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, also stated, “WHO is known for producing world-class technical products – guidelines, norms, and standards – but translating these into real-world action has been hindered by a lack of institutionalized training. Often, our technical products sit unused on shelves or unread in inboxes. The WHO Academy will be game-changing, a first-of-its-kind global health learning centre that will equip health and care workers, policy-makers, and our own global workforce with the competencies and skills they need to transform health systems and deliver health for all."

The global shortage of healthcare workers is a major issue that affects millions of people, leaving them without critical health services like immunization, maternal care, and treatment for infectious diseases. To address this, the WHO Academy plans to train thousands of healthcare workers each year. By 2028, the Academy aims to train 3 million healthcare workers, including nurses, doctors, and midwives. 

It will also train 900 senior leaders and 13,000 public health managers. From 2025 to 2028, the Academy will offer 50 to 80 new courses each year, totaling around 260 courses by 2028. The WHO Academy is a major initiative to bridge the global healthcare workforce gap. By offering accessible and high-quality training, it will help strengthen healthcare systems, improve services, and promote health equity worldwide.