Top Free Online Courses in Public Health for Humanitarians: A Comprehensive List

Having worked with MSF in the Democratic Republic of Congo, I know, as most of us, the vital role of public and global health knowledge in humanitarian efforts. Learning more about the basics of public and global health is crucial therefore for most of us working in this sector. While public health typically targets the well-being of general populations, global health extends its concern to issues that transcend national borders, impacting people worldwide. Understanding these fields, and how epidemiology plays a key role in disease control (and limited the spread of diseases), is crucial. 

Today, I’m enthusiastic about sharing a carefully curated selection of free online courses designed for individuals in the humanitarian sector. Whether you’re an experienced professional looking to broaden your expertise or just commencing your humanitarian journey, these courses offer an invaluable resource. They equip you with basic knowledge to effectively address pressing health challenges. 

This blog is part of a series that started back at World Humanitarian Day 2022 (19th of August), with this blog: A list of trusted online humanitarian learning opportunities. Since then, the list got extended with all sorts of sub-list of critical areas of expertise for humanitarian globally. From WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) to Monitoring and evaluation, from Humanitarian Logistics to Negotiations for humanitarians. 

Important to note, that I am not an expert in public and global health, just curating various interesting course lists for humanitarians globally. In case I forgot a course, or you know about other valuable resources, please send me a message; and I will add those

Online Global Health Courses for Humanitarians

  1. Global Health and Humanitarianism by the University of Manchester (11 hours)
  2. Essentials of Global Health by YALE University (70 hours)
  3. Global Health: An Interdisciplinary Overview by University of Geneva (18 hours)
  4. Foundations of Global Health Specialization by John Hopkins University (consisting of various courses also listed below, 2 months of 10 hours a week in total)
  5. Global Health: Ebola, COVID, and Beyond by University of Maryland (18 hours)
  6. Global Public Health by SDG Academy (50 hours)
  7. Improving Global Health: Focusing on Quality and Safety by Harvard University (40 hours)
  8. The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Health by Boston University (24 hours)
  9. Death 101: Shaping the Future of Global Health by University of Toronto (30 hours)
  10. Population Health: Fundamentals of Population Health Management by Leiden University (18 hours)
  11. Global health and disability by London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine & ICED 
  12. Hypothesis-driven approach: Problem solving in the context of global health by WHO 
  13. Global Disease Masterclass Specialization by Imperial College London (40 hours)
 

Public and Emergency Health courses for humanitarians

  1.  Health in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies by Emory University (8 hours)
  2. Public Health in Humanitarian Crises 1 by John Hopkins University (13 hours)
  3. Public Health in Humanitarian Crises 2 by John Hopkins University (19 hours)
  4. Pathways to Public Health by the George Washington University (25 hours)
  5. Public Health in Emergencies by IFRC (4 hours)
  6. Health in Emergencies by IFRC (1 hour)
  7. Effects of Emergencies on Health and Nutrition – An Introduction by Humanitarian Leadership Academy & Save the Children (1 hour)
  8. Effects of Emergencies on Health and Nutrition – An Advanced Guide by Humanitarian Leadership Academy & Save the Children (1 hour)
  9. Non-Communicable Diseases in Humanitarian Settings by the University of Copenhagen (14 hours)
  10. Public Health Reporting by UNICEF (2 hours)
  11. Acute Malnutrition in Emergencies Preparedness and Response by UNICEF (1 hour)

Great resource for more about Nutrition and Health, or Children’s health in emergencies, please take a look at AGORA’s catalogue of UNICEF of online courses by clicking here. 

Epidemiology for Humanitarians

One of the nice introduction courses in Epidemiology is: Epidemiology: The Basic Science of Public Health by the University of North Caroline and Chapel Hill (6 hours). Epidemiology was first a sub-list here of this list of Global and Public Health online courses for humanitarians. But since the list became substantial in itself. I created a separate online list, of introduction courses in Epidemiology for humanitarians, which you can find here.

Mental Health and MHPSS online courses for humanitarians

The best start would probably be this course: Introducing Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) in Emergencies by WHO, the World Health Organisation (7 hours). Earlier, I created a dedicated list already for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for humanitarians. This list is available by clicking here. 

Other (public) health related courses for humanitarians

  1. Introduction to Public Health Engineering in Humanitarian Contexts by École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (12 hours)
  2. Violence Against Healthcare by University of Geneva (15 hours)
  3. Global Health Security, Solidarity and Sustainability through the International Health Regulations by University of Geneva (25 hours)
  4. Protecting Children during Infectious Disease Outbreaks by The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (18 hours)
  5. Menstruation in a Global Context: Addressing Policy and Practice by Colombia University (30 hours)
  6. An integrated approach to building health systems resilience by WHO (5 hours)
  7. Things You Should Know about Health and Migration by IFRC (3 hours)
  8. Health Cluster Coordination by WHO (9 hours)
  9. Role of Surgery in Humanitarian Aid by Standford University 
  10. WHO Global School on Refugee and Migrant Health by WHO (10 hours)
  11. Environment, climate change and health for practitioners and actors guiding policy change by WHO (2 hours)
  12. Inequality monitoring in sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health by WHO (2 hours)
  13. Application of Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) strategy to Emergency or Fragile Health System contexts by WHO (1 hour)
  14. Helping Older People in Emergencies (HOPE) by HelpAge International (3 hours)

Above you have found a list of interesting, quality, other (public) health-related courses for humanitarians. Noteworthy to mention is the OpenWHO online learning platform developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). Their platform addresses a wide range of public health topics, and disease-specific courses. Online accessible here