Public Health School Launches Morocco’s First Online Health Academy

Rabat – The National School of Public Health (ENSP) in Morocco officially launched on May 21 its Online Health Academy, the country’s first e-learning platform in the field.

The academy falls under the directions of Morocco’s Ministry of Health. The program seeks to provide training adapted to the needs of health professionals and the expectations of different regions of Morocco through programming that meets international standards in distance learning.

The academy will use advanced technologies and software in favor of health professionals.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) teamed up with ENSP, along with several international organizations, including the World Health Organization, to develop the online academy.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta (CDC) also contributed.

The project took the developers three years to complete. Its programming is in line with the health ministry’s strategy in terms of training, according to ENSP Director Abdelmounim Belalia.

The platform will allow access to a large number of health professionals throughout Morocco. It will also help reduce logistics costs linked to traditional travel.

Belalia explained that ENSP signed agreements with leading schools in the field of public health, before proceeding to train all of the teachers who will be online instructors in pedagogic techniques for distance learning. They did so through several workshops in collaboration with national and international institutions leaders in the field.

Prior to this, the organizers “conducted a large national study to measure and assess the predisposition of health professionals to use new information and communication technologies for training, and then we equipped ourselves with a center for e-learning, with technologies and software that allow online training, meeting international criteria and standards in the field,” the ENSP chairman added.

Maghreb Arab Press (MAP) reported that nearly 5,000 participants from the 12 regions in Morocco, in addition to 100 people from other African countries, have received training in the health field during the development of the academy.

The academy is determined to position itself as a continental platform for sharing knowledge and expertise in the field as part of Morocco’s South-South approach to strengthen collaboration with other African countries.