Abstract
On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to be a pandemic. As a result, the OpenWHO.org online platform, which serves as WHO’s learning hub for emergencies, was tested for the first time on its core purpose of scaling up trusted public health information in a global emergency. This descriptive study examines and documents the WHO learning response in the early months of the pandemic by comparing epidemiological information and OpenWHO.org use in the countries with the highest COVID-19 cases. Statistical datasets from OpenWHO.org and WHO’s COVID-19 dashboard were overlaid for the period 11 March–22 May 2020. During this period, for most of the 24 countries with the highest COVID-19 cases, platform use showed a corresponding trend. Courses published in the official languages spoken in these countries were well utilized, indicating a need to produce materials in languages spoken by affected communities. Of the countries with the highest number of users on OpenWHO, only half were top users of the platform before the pandemic. The existence of an established online platform for health emergencies assisted WHO in massively and quickly scaling up the dissemination of essential learning materials for COVID-19.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected nearly every country on the planet
The countries that experienced the highest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases during the 10-week period following the pandemic declaration (11 March–22 May 2020) had a similar number of users on OpenWHO (Figure 1)
India has historically exhibited the greatest use of OpenWHO both before and after the pandemic declaration
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected nearly every country on the planet. As restrictions on travel and physical distancing measures were put into place across the globe, those affected began searching online for information about coronavirus disease [1]. OpenWHO, the WHO Health Emergencies Programme’s learning platform, which previously focused on infectious disease work mainly in the Global South, expanded in use throughout the world. In just 10 weeks after WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on 30 January 2020, the platform witnessed course enrolments jump from 177,209 to 1,596,892, an increase of 801.14% [2]. OpenWHO was created in 2017 with emergencies like COVID-19 in mind. WHO needs to reach millions of people across the globe with real-time learning materials. The self-paced format affords interested learners the flexibility to take courses at their own pace [5]
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