Strengthening capacity through competency-based education and training to deliver the essential public health functions: reflection on roadmap to build public health workforce

⇒ COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for improved global governance and investment in resilient public health systems.⇒ Effective public health is not the exclusive preserve of any one professional group but requires multisectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration across a broad range of occupations.⇒ WHO and partner organisations have published a roadmap; a five-year strategy to strengthen capacity across all countries for a multidisciplinary workforce to undertake the essential public health functions, including emergency preparedness and response.⇒ A key action area within the roadmap is the use of competency-based education as an approach to developing the skills and abilities of diverse multidisciplinary teams, with the collective capability to deliver on the essential public health functions.⇒ Inclusion of early career professionals in decisions about education and health policy will encourage intergenerational collaboration, bidirectional learning and serves to ensure that the future workforce has agency and is well equipped to deal with evolving health system challenges.