Purpose of consultancy

Achieving universal health coverage (UHC) requires access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines, vaccines and health products. Equity in public health depends on access to essential, high-quality and affordable essential medicines and health technologies for all. However, approximately half the world’s population lacks access to such essential health-related technologies, specifically essential medicines.

The purpose of this short-term consultancy (STC) is to support one ensuring access to essential medicines in Member States through an update of essential medicines lists in Member States, finalization of a pharmaceutical profile, development of training materials and tools on medicines supply management and antimicrobial consumption surveillance as required.

Background

Moving towards UHC requires that countries concentrate efforts on supporting a people-centred health system with primary care as its foundation, and essential medicines, community-based services, health promotion and disease prevention as key components.

A comprehensive assessment of the pharmaceutical sector helps to determine what the gaps are in order to design effective interventions and allows evaluation of the impact of interventions over time. Different tools exist to measure key aspects of the pharmaceutical sector and systematically monitor the progress of efforts to improve access to essential medicines. In collaboration with OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), WHO published “How pharmaceutical systems are organized in Asia and the Pacific” in 2018.  It outlines resources, structures and processes relating to ensuring availability and accessibility of pharmaceuticals in specific country settings and their interactions with the health-care system.

Selection of a limited number of essential medicines, taking into consideration national disease burden and clinical need, can lead to improved access through streamlined procurement and distribution of quality-assured medicines, support more rational or appropriate prescribing and use, and lower costs both for healthcare systems and for patients. [1] In 2017, WHO developed the AWaRe classification of antibiotics as a tool to support antibiotic stewardship efforts. Antibiotics are classified into three groups, Access, Watch and Reserve (AWaRE), taking into account the impact of different antibiotics and antibiotic classes on antimicrobial resistance, to emphasize the importance of their appropriate use. It is updated every 2 years in the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines.  A number of countries in the WHO Western Pacific Region are currently updating their national essential medicines list based on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines and national treatment guidelines and tools.

The Western Pacific Regional Antimicrobial Consumption Surveillance System (WPRACSS), consisting of a web-based reporting at the national and hospital levels and a smartphone application for community pharmacy-based reporting are developed to aid and compliment the analysis of antimicrobial consumption (AMC) surveillance and monitoring in Member States.

Deliverables

Method(s) to carry out the activity

Participate in and support WHO-led regional and country level activities and initiative pertaining access to medicines activities from strategic/policy point of view.
Perform desk review of relevant global, regional and national framework, strategies and policies.
Undertake desk review of national medicines policies and essential medicines of Member States.

Output/s

Under the direction and supervision of the Technical Officer, Essential Medicines and Health Technologies, the incumbent will deliver the following outputs and products:

Output 1: Support the update of national medicines policy (NMP) and national list of essential medicines (NEML) of Member States

Deliverable 1.1  Updated national medicines policy(s) in a selected Member State(s) as requested
Deliverable 1.2  Updated NEML of at least three countries as requested. The update should consider the WHO Model Essential Medicines List and the WHO AWaRe classification of antibiotics.
Deliverable 1.3 Mapping of NEML.

Output 2: To support the implementation of antimicrobial consumption surveillance in Member States

Deliverable 2.1  Training materials, manuals and tools on antimicrobial consumption surveillance
Deliverable 2.2 Report on technical briefings, trainings and workshops on antimicrobial consumption surveillance as requested.

Output 3: Continuing update of the pharmaceutical profile in Member States

Deliverable 3.1 Finalized methodology for updating the pharmaceutical system profile of selected countries in the Western Pacific Region
Deliverable 3.2 Draft pharmaceutical profile in selected Member States (at least 5)

Output 4: To support the organization of regional meeting and national training on access to medicines

Deliverable 4.1 Technical documents and report of the 8th meeting for Asia- Pacific Network for Access to Medicines under Universal Health Coverage, 25-26 September 2024
Deliverable 4.2 Country-tailored training materials and tools on medicines supply management including medicines quantification, consumption and expenditure analysis

Output 5: Technical reports

Deliverable 5.1    Monthly report
Deliverable 5.2    Complete technical report with deliverables at the end of the assignment

Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational Qualifications:

Essential:  University degree in pharmacy, medicine or relevant fields such as clinical pharmacology or health economics.
Desirable:  Advanced degree and/or training on international health, public health, pharmaceutical affairs, pharmaceutical policies and/or related field.

Experience

Essential: Minimum five years of experience working in the areas of essential medicines and health technologies with a focus on pharmaceutical policies and pharmaceutical affairs.

Skills/Knowledge

• Demonstrated expertise working in medicines with a good understanding about health and pharmaceutical systems and access to medicines.
• Ability to work independently and in close collaboration with WHO
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Attention to detail

Languages

Expert knowledge of English (read/write/speak).

Location

On-site: WHO Regional office for the Western Pacific (WPRO), Manila, Philippines

Travel

The consultant may be required to travel to Member States (subject to clearance) if necessary.

Remuneration and budget

Remuneration: Payband level B, USD 7437.50/month
A living expense is payable to on-site consultants who are internationally recruited.
Expected duration of contract: 4 months, September to December 2024

Additional Information:

• This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
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