In 2026, HKU Primary Health Care Academy has been officially designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Health and Nursing Workforce Development in Primary Health Care. This designation reflects HKU’s contributions to advancing primary health care and strengthening the health and nursing workforce, supporting WHO’s work programme and benefiting Member States.

Role of WHO Collaborating Centre
The WHO Collaborating Centre contributes to WHO’s global and regional priorities for health and care workforce development, advances primary health care reform, and strengthens evidence and systems. This work aligns with the Fourteenth General Programme of Work (GPW14, 2025–2028), the Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery (SDNM 2021–2025), and the State of the World's Nursing Report 2025 (SOWN2025).

 
Head
Professor Chan, Siu Chee Sophia

Objectives

• Capacity Building: Strengthen nursing and broader health workforce leadership capacities for primary health care
• Research: Generate health data, evidence, and monitoring systems for workforce development and primary health care performance
• Knowledge Translation: Implement tools and training for workforce development

 
Types of Activities
The objectives will be achieved through the following domains of activities:

1. Workforce & Leadership Development

• Leadership training & capacity building
• Mentorship & peer network
• Workforce policy dialogue
• Policy and guideline development and review

2. Community & System Capacity

• Insights and recommendations generation
• Regional dialogue and experience sharing
• Wisdom Sharing

3. Evaluation & Accountability

• Synthesis reports with policy recommendations
• Country experience summary on PHC workforce reform