Educational approaches that foster early health literacy and trust in health systems are essential for long-term public health resilience. In line with the World Health Organization's (WHO) commitment to increase health literacy in its Second European Programme of Work 2026-2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 4, the WHO Regional Office for Europe developed and is helping countries roll out Immune Patrol - a digital, game-based education package designed for schoolchildren aged 10-12 years to improve understanding of the immune system, disease prevention, vaccines and critical thinking. Developed in close collaboration with academic partners and educators, it integrates curriculum-aligned lessons, critical thinking activities, and teacher support materials, available both online and offline. This paper presents Immune Patrol as a case study of an innovative learning approach implemented and evaluated across multiple countries, including Armenia, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova, complemented by new evaluations from Belgium. Evidence from pilot and national rollouts indicates that the game enhances children's knowledge, self-confidence and engagement while supporting teachers in communicating complex health topics in an accessible and non-coercive way. By promoting active learning and positive associations with health information, Immune Patrol contributes to strengthening health literacy and can serve as a model for integrating behavioural and educational approaches into public health promotion. The scalability and adaptability of the model suggest wider potential for application across other health-related topics and educational settings.
Kohlhepp et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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