THE United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in partnership with the Department of Health (DoH), recently launched the DOH Academy’s e-learning platform to facilitate health workers’ core training through standardized online learning modules.
The first of its kind in the Philippines, the e-learning platform went live during a ceremony led by Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III and USAID Acting Mission Director Patrick Wesner on October 25.
USAID, through its Human Resources for Health 2030 Project in the Philippines, took the lead in developing the Web portal and transferred its administration to DOH in September 2019.
Wesner stated, “We are proud of our partnership with the DOH to develop an e-learning platform as an alternative training method to bolster the competencies of Filipino health workers across the country.” he said
According to the mission director, the USAID believes that innovation presents new opportunities to respond to critical development challenges that impact millions of people around the world.
The acting mission director also praised the DOH for allocating resources to manage the online system and to produce 20 additional e-learning modules.
The US government, through USAID, partnered with the DOH to strengthen the development, deployment, training and management of the health work force to ensure an adequate number of health human resources who are fully equipped to deliver Universal Health Care (UHC).
For his part, Duque explained, “The DOH e-learning platform allows health workers to access learning modules anytime and anywhere. This will save travel time [while enabling] trainers and health workers to spend more time attending to their patients.”
The DOH and USAID also codeveloped a module that explains the UHC law and its implications for health workers. Both agencies had earlier collaborated in developing e-learning modules on tuberculosis, family planning, adolescent health and data governance.