A Global Blueprint for Adolescent Health: WHO Unveils Competency-Based Framework

The World Health Organization's 2025 report, Competency and Outcomes Framework for Adolescent Health and Well-being, produced in collaboration with UNAIDS, UNICEF, UNESCO, and UN Women, and developed with research contributions from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the University of Melbourne, and the Indian Academy of Pediatrics, offers a global blueprint for preparing health workers to meet the diverse needs of adolescents. It adapts WHO's Global Competency and Outcomes Framework for Universal Health Coverage to address this critical life stage, emphasizing care that is evidence-based, inclusive, confidential, and grounded in respect for adolescents' autonomy.

A New Paradigm for Adolescent Health

In his foreword, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus describes adolescents as a "powerful engine for progress" whose well-being determines the world's collective future. He underscores that universal health coverage cannot be achieved without a workforce trained to understand adolescence as a unique developmental phase, neither childhood nor adulthood. This framework, therefore, equips providers with the knowledge, skills, and behaviours needed to deliver safe, youth-friendly, and participatory health services. It is both a policy guide and an educational roadmap, developed through global consultations with youth networks, ministries of health and education, and professionals across disciplines.

Core Competencies and Values

The framework structures twenty-four competencies into six domains: people-centredness, decision-making, communication, collaboration, evidence-informed practice, and personal conduct. Each domain includes measurable behaviours reflecting clinical skill and ethical practice. People-centredness demands care tailored to each adolescent's developmental stage and cultural background. Decision-making promotes shared, informed choices that balance autonomy and protection. Communication focuses on empathy, confidentiality, and the responsible use of technology such as telehealth. Collaboration encourages teamwork among healthcare providers, educators, and families. Evidence-informed practice ensures decisions are guided by data and context, while personal conduct calls for professional integrity, self-awareness, and ongoing learning. Together, these competencies redefine how health workers engage with adolescents, not as dependents, but as active participants in their own care.

Turning Competencies into Practice

To operationalize these values, the document introduces practice activities and topic guides covering eleven key areas: growth and development, mental health, substance use, sexual and reproductive health including HIV, nutrition, chronic conditions, injuries and violence, ethical practice, transition from paediatric to adult care, telehealth, and anticipatory guidance. Each topic outlines what health workers must know and be able to do. The section on mental health, for example, trains providers to recognize early warning signs, address stigma, and distinguish normal adolescent behaviour from distress. The guidance on sexual and reproductive health stresses confidentiality and informed consent, while the telehealth component teaches how to deliver safe, private consultations online. Ethical practice and transition care are emphasized as cross-cutting principles, ensuring continuity, safeguarding rights, and supporting adolescents as they navigate adulthood.

Implementation and Education Pathways

Beyond clinical practice, the report provides a step-by-step guide for governments and educational institutions to integrate adolescent health into curricula. It begins with a national needs assessment, followed by defining learning objectives, selecting curricular content, developing transparent assessment methods, and evaluating outcomes. WHO recommends triangulated assessment, testing each competency through multiple approaches, and insists that implementation requires strong institutional capacity, qualified faculty, and political commitment. Importantly, while the framework offers global standards, it encourages adaptation to local realities, recognizing that adolescent health priorities vary by culture, resources, and epidemiology. Annexes list freely available WHO training tools and online modules for health educators, ensuring accessibility for low-resource settings.

Empowering the Next Generation

The Competency and Outcomes Framework for Adolescent Health and Well-being concludes with a compelling vision: a world where every adolescent has access to compassionate, competent, and equitable healthcare. It urges nations to view adolescents not as a vulnerable group to be managed but as partners in shaping healthier societies. By embedding competency-based education within health systems, the framework aims to produce professionals who combine technical excellence with empathy, ethics, and cultural awareness. Ultimately, it argues that the true strength of a health system lies in its ability to empower its youngest members, equipping them not only to survive but also to thrive. Through this global framework, WHO and its partners set a new standard for adolescent health, linking evidence to empathy and transforming care into a catalyst for human development.