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KCC Ovations

Kingsborough Professor Jose Nanin Serves as Advisor for New Training Protocols Developed by the World Health Organization

Jose Nanin

November 9, 2022 — Access to health services depends on the availability, accessibility, and quality of health workers as well as its health leadership and management. Interested in creating a workforce better trained in dealing with global health issues, Kingsborough Community College professor, Dr. Jose Nanin, went to Geneva in November 2019 to interview Dr. Giorgio Cometto, coordinator of human resources for health policies, norms and standards at the World Health Organization (WHO). At the time, Cometto was working on an initiative aimed at improving the training of health workers around the globe.

“I was inspired by students who were taking health-related courses in our degree and non-degree programs,” explained Nanin. “With COVID-19 currently becoming endemic in our society, plus the threats of other possible pandemics, the constant threat of natural and person-made disasters, and the re-emergence of monkeypox, polio, Ebola, and other infections, more well-trained workers are needed in public health in our local, national, and global communities.”

His meeting with Cometto led to an invitation to join WHO’s Human Resources for Health Leadership Hub of the Global Health Workforce Network, which was working on a curriculum for developing healthcare workers and managers of human resources for health on a global scale.

“Members of the Leadership Hub provided peer review and technical inputs to the document, ensuring that the curriculum lessons were realistic, that the learning objectives were achievable, and that the appropriate amount of time was developed for each level of training,” said Nanin.  

Last week, WHO released its Human Resources for Health curricula package. It includes three prototype curricula for a one-week executive short course, a one-month course and a master’s course, containing suggested learning units, reading lists, case studies, learning activities and assessments. 

Nanin plans to use the document as the foundation for a new concentration or certificate in global health within KCC’s community health or health sciences degrees. His hope is this concentration will help students gain the knowledge and skills to continue their studies and work in public health, with a focus on developing interventions on a global scale. This, in turn, will produce more competent public health workers that can address emerging and continuing health challenges and health emergencies faced by so many communities around the world.

“Kingsborough and CUNY proudly serve diverse student populations that seek educational opportunities that provide knowledge and skills they can take back to their communities all over the globe. I believe this publication will give me, and other public health professionals, the blueprint and resources to plan, develop, and deliver effective trainings in public health that students will be able to use in their local communities, as well as their home countries and other parts of the world,” he concluded.   

To watch a webinar announcing WHO’s launch of the package, visit https://youtu.be/2CzXalj_YME.