WHO Global Youth Competition on Influenza and COVID-19 Prevention and Control 2026

The WHO Global Youth Competition on Influenza and COVID-19 Prevention and Control 2026 is an international competition that invites young people to use their creativity to promote awareness about preventing respiratory infections. Organized by the World Health Organization (WHO), the competition encourages participants to produce short videos that address misinformation, promote evidence-based health practices, and inspire communities to protect themselves against seasonal influenza and COVID-19.

The 2026 edition is open to students and young professionals aged 18 to 35 from around the world. Participants are encouraged to share innovative ideas through engaging videos that respond to one or more of the competition prompts centered on influenza and COVID-19 prevention and control.

About the WHO Global Youth Competition

The WHO Global Youth Competition was created to encourage young people to contribute to public health awareness through creative storytelling and digital communication. The initiative recognizes that young people play an important role in combating misinformation and encouraging healthy behaviors within their communities.

For this year's competition, participants are asked to create a short video around the theme:

"How do you shield your circle from respiratory infections, like influenza and COVID-19?"

Videos should encourage prevention, address myths and misinformation, and promote evidence-based public health practices. Participants may choose from several prompts, including discussing who needs protection, responding to vaccine or prevention-related misconceptions, or addressing myths circulating within their communities.

Creativity is strongly encouraged. Participants may use storytelling, interviews, animation, spoken word, dialogue, drawings, reels, or other creative formats. If artificial intelligence is used to generate any part of the submission, this must be disclosed in the application.

Competition Benefits

Participants selected as winners will receive international recognition from WHO.

Benefits include:

• Global recognition from the World Health Organization.
• Certificate issued by WHO.
• Winning video featured on WHO platforms.
• Invitation to present the winning video during a WHO global webinar in October 2026.
• Opportunity to showcase creative work to an international audience.
• Opportunity to contribute to global public health awareness.
• Networking and visibility within the global health community.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must meet the following requirements:

• Be between 18 and 35 years old.
• Be a student or young professional.
• Submit an original video addressing at least one competition prompt.
• Videos may be submitted individually or as a team.
• Each participant may submit up to three videos.
• Videos must not exceed 90 seconds.
• Videos in languages other than English must include English subtitles.
• AI-generated content, if used, must be declared during submission.

Available Areas Of Study

The competition is open to participants from all academic and professional backgrounds, including:

• Public Health
• Medicine
• Nursing
• Pharmacy
• Biology
• Health Sciences
• Communication
• Journalism
• Media Studies
• Digital Media
• Public Relations
• Education
• Social Sciences
• International Development
• Any other discipline

Required Documents

Applicants should prepare:

• Completed online submission form.
• Video submission (maximum 90 seconds).
• English subtitles for non-English videos.
• Participant information.
• Declaration of AI use, where applicable.

Videos should be original and aligned with the competition theme and submission guidelines.

Selection Criteria

Submissions will be reviewed by WHO subject matter experts.

Entries will be assessed based on:

• Relevance to the competition theme.
• Accuracy of public health information.
• Creativity and originality.
• Clarity of communication.
• Potential to engage audiences.
• Overall quality of the video.
• Effectiveness in addressing misinformation and promoting prevention.

How To Apply

Interested participants should follow these steps:

1. Visit the official WHO competition page.
2. Read the competition guidelines carefully.
3. Develop a creative video based on one or more of the competition prompts.
4. Ensure the video is no longer than 90 seconds.
5. Add English subtitles if the video is produced in another language.
6. Complete the online submission form.
7. Upload your video before the application deadline.

Participants are encouraged to submit their entries early to avoid last-minute technical issues.