Regional News

One hundred and seven primary health care providers from sixteen English speaking countries from the sub-region of the Caribbean (Antigua, Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Monserrat, Trinidad & Tobago,  Turks & Caicos, Suriname, Saint Kitts & Nevis, and Saint Lucia), enrolled in the Region’s first virtual course on stigma reduction. The sixteen-week virtual training, organized by the Pan American Health Organization, Mental Health and Substance Use Unit, in collaboration with the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC), aims to reduce stigma within the healthcare setting.

3 May, 2022

Some 220 professionals from countries of the Americas completed the second edition of the Pan American Health Organization's Course on Implementation and Strengthening of Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) Programs, hosted at the Virtual Campus for Public Health. This educational initiative was designed to provide health professionals with the tools they need for planning, implementing, and monitoring activities to optimize antimicrobial use in hospitals. 

The 12-week course included six modules on: (1) Introduction to the problem of bacterial resistance; (2) General and organizational aspects of AMS programs; (3) Microbiological and pharmacological aspects; (4) Education and use of information technology in AMS programs; (5) Other elements essential for the development of AMS programs, and (6) AMS programs and COVID-19: Approach to comprehensive disease management. 

More than 570 professionals completed the course on World Health Organization methodology for the surveillance of antimicrobial consumption, offered by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). This second edition of the course was taken by professionals from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Honduras, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

The five modules of this online self-learning course were offered at PAHO's Virtual Campus for Public Health. 

31 March, 2022

2 March, 2022

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is offering a series of new open access virtual courses to strengthen the knowledge and competencies of health workers in several public health disciplines.

With 1.7 million users, PAHO's Virtual Public Health Campus is a network of people, institutions and organizations that have been sharing public health courses, resources, and information since its establishment in 2008. 

The self-study courses made available at the virtual campus allow participants to complete them at their own pace, with no set time or deadline. 

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The Pan American Health Organization presents the new Webinar Series on the renewed Essential Public Health Functions (EPHF), which is a fundamental part of the process being carried out by PAHO to strengthen the stewardship role of the country's health authorities and the areas involved with the exercise of the EPHF, involving the greatest number of actors and sectors, guaranteeing an intersectoral, broad and pluralistic perspective. 

31 January, 2022

The Virtual Campus' News includes information about new courses and learning resources available in the platform, and news from the countries' nodes. 

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5 October, 2021

3 September, 2021

Panama, 13 September 2021 (OPS)- The Caribbean Node of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Virtual Campus for Public Health launched two new tutor-based virtual courses on tobacco control.

Washington DC, 12 de marzo del 2021 (OPS)- La Dirección Nacional de Control de Enfermedades Inmunoprevenibles (DiCEI) del Ministerio de Salud de la Nación, el nodo argentino del Campus Virtual de Salud Pública/ Dirección de Talento Humano, ambos del Ministerio de salud, y la representación de la Organización Panamericana de la Salud (OPS) en Argentina lanzaron el curso virtual sobre Campaña de Vacunación contra SARS-CoV2 que buscó capacitar a los recursos humanos para enfrentar exitosamente los desafíos que plantea la estrategia de vacunación en contexto de pandemia. Más de 9900 personas ya han comenzado a cursar esta iniciativa en línea que está próxima a finalizar.

30 July, 2021

30 June, 2021

28 May, 2021

3 May, 2021

31 March, 2021

VCPH invites you to participate in the WHO global consultation on the Global Learning Strategy.

The World Health Organization invites you to participate in an online public consultation, on the draft WHO Global Learning Strategy. The goal of this Strategy is to make lifelong learning in health a genuine force for improving people’s health, protecting them from emergencies and ensuring universal health coverage and better health and well-being. While a broad range of stakeholders have been consulted in the development of this draft, it is now essential to develop principles, recommendations, and approaches for its implementation.

See more and fill out the survey

26 February, 2021

29 January, 2021

21 December, 2020

Fifty-four public health officials from 10 countries and regional entities in the Caribbean started the online course on “Public Health Leadership: Leading the health sector during COVID-19 and beyond”, offered through the Caribbean Node of the Virtual Campus for Public Health, from October 12, 2020.

The course aims at building leadership skills among public health managers that would allow them to lead the response to emerging public health issues, including emergencies and disasters.

The initiative provides comprehensive skill sets and knowledge related to health leadership. Participants will learn about the theoretical foundations of public health leadership and apply their knowledge in meaningful, real-world learning activities, often related to their current work.

The Honduras node of the Virtual Campus is a tripartite initiative between the Ministry of Health, the National Autonomous University of Honduras and PAHO. In 2020, the node has developed two self-learning courses focused on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The self-learning course on Home Care for confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients with Mild Symptoms and Follow-up of Their Contacts, seeks to teach essential measures related to contact management, to ensure safe and quality home care. More than 1,430 people have completed the online course, which was launched on National Television by the Minister of Health, Alba Consuelo Flores, and the PAHO/WHO Representative in Honduras, Piedad Huerta.

More than one hundred workers at free trade fairs in Chile were trained to prevent infection by the new coronavirus in the markets where fruits and vegetables are sold, through the virtual course "Health monitors at free fairs in times of pandemic ". The initiative was organized by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), the Association of Free Fairs (ASOF), the School of Public Health of the University of Chile and the University of Valparaiso.

More than 150 public professionals from public health schools in Brazil were trained through the Virtual Campus for Public Health during 2020 through a project of the Pan American Health Organization in Brazil (OPAS) and the National Council of Secretaries of Health (CONASS) that sought to strengthen the capacities of schools for the development of distance education to respond to COVID-19.

Through technical cooperation, which includes public health schools linked to state health secretariats, the use of information and communication technologies was incorporated into the state health network.

2 November, 2020

30 October, 2020

2 October, 2020