Humanitarian Health 2026

Health is at the heart of humanitarian action. The risks to health posed by humanitarian crises are at all-time high. Protracted conflicts are among the greatest threats to health and health workers, and crises caused by disease outbreaks require the health and humanitarian communities to work together. Students will review the main health problems, as well as current global and local challenges in the delivery of health care in humanitarian settings. They will discuss response strategies addressing basic and specific needs of populations affected by natural disasters, conflicts, and epidemics. They will review humanitarian data used for decision-making, and priority interventions for health, including reproductive health, food security and nutrition, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and understand the main challenges of conducting research in humanitarian settings.

The course includes two parts. The MOOC 'Operational Research for Humanitarians' developed by Geneva Center of Humanitarian Studies and hosted on the Coursera constitutes the first part and counts for 25% of the final mark. The MOOC is accessible on https://www.coursera.org/learn/research-humanitarian.

Face-to-face sessions constitute the second part of the course. Final assessment consists of a group work and presentation and counts for 75% of the final mark. Face-to-face sessions will happen every Monday from 08 March to 18 May 2026, from 9.15 am to 12.00 pm at Ancienne école de médecine, Room 74. 

The Humanitarian Health course is directed by Prof. Karl Blanchet (karl.blanchet@unige.ch), assisted by Shafiq Mirzazada (shafiq.mirzazada@unige.ch) from the Geneva Centre of Humanitarian Studies.