Consultant - Traditional and Complementary Medicine, Manila, Philippines

Purpose of the Consultancy

This consultancy aims to support the implementation of the ‘Regional Framework for Harnessing Traditional and Complementary Medicine (T&CM) for Achieving Health and Well-being in the Western Pacific’.

The expert will support activities related to implementation of the Regional Framework in the Western Pacific Region and other activities related to the T&CM programme in WPRO as needed.

Background

Access to quality essential health-care services and safe, effective, quality-assured essential medicines is essential to achieving the SDG target of Universal health coverage (UHC). It is well recognised that traditional medicine has much to contribute towards achieving UHC. According to the WHO Global Report on Traditional and Complementary Medicine 2019 traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) is used by at least 80% of the Member States across all WHO regions, with more than 90% of Member States in the Western Pacific Region (WPR) reporting their use of T&CM. Many families and communities seek traditional medicine services for primary healthcare, especially in resource-limited settings. In this context, traditional medicines are often used to treat conditions ranging from minor ailments through to life-threatening diseases.

WHO’s work in the Western Pacific Region is guided by the vison ‘For the Future – Towards the Healthiest and Safest Region’. The vision sets out the thematic priorities for the region, including (inter alia) ‘non-communicable diseases and ageing’ and ‘reaching the unreached’. It also defines operational shifts to plan and guide our actions, including broad concepts such as a ‘systems approach with UHC as the foundation’, ‘grounds up’, and ‘measurement & impact’.

In line with For the Future, the ‘Regional Framework for Harnessing Traditional and Complementary Medicine (T&CM) for Achieving Health and Well-being in the Western Pacific’ aims to maximise the contribution of quality, safe and effective T&CM services to health and well-being.

The Regional Framework sets out four strategic actions:

• promoting the role of T&CM for health and well-being through national policies;
• strengthening context-specific mechanisms to ensure the safety, quality and effectiveness of T&CM services;
• increasing coverage and equitable access to safe and effective T&CM services; and
• supporting documentation, research and innovation for T&CM services.

The Regional Committee endorsed the Regional Framework in 2021 and passed a resolution urging WHO to (1) to provide technical support to Member States in implementing the Regional Framework; (2) to facilitate dialogue and the sharing of experiences in implementing the Regional Framework; (3) to report periodically on progress in the implementation of the Regional Framework for Harnessing Traditional and Complementary Medicine for Achieving Health and Well-being in the Western Pacific.

In August 2023, the First Traditional Medicine Global Summit was held in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, alongside the G20 Health Ministers meeting. The Global Summit brought together a wider range of experts from academia, indigenous communities, WHO collaborating centres, private sector, civil society organizations, and others. The resulting Gujarat Declaration, sets out an action agenda towards the implementation of evidence-based T&CM interventions and approaches to support the goal of universal health coverage. It also encourages the application of science, technology, innovation and knowledge exchange to validate and unlock the contribution of TCIM and Indigenous knowledge to advance health and well-being across the life course.

Deliverables

Output 1: Supporting implementation of the Regional Framework for Harnessing Traditional and Complementary Medicine for Achieving Health and Well-being in the Western Pacific.

Deliverable 1.1: A report on the progress made by Member States in implementing the Regional Framework. The information from this review will form the basis of a progress report to the Regional Committee Meeting in 2024.

Output 2: Supporting promotion of documentation, research and innovation for T&CM services.

Deliverable 2.1: Support planning for a Traditional Medicine Research Webinar in 2024, including development of the webinar agenda, speaker nominations, logistics, and communications with speakers and participants.

Output 3: Support partnership and stakeholder coordination including country support, participate in technical meetings with EMT, and other relevant WHO offices and external partner, as requested by supervisors.

Deliverable 3.1: Monthly progress report detailing activities supported by the expert.

Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational Qualifications

Essential: University degree in traditional and complementary medicine or health-related sciences
Desirable: Post-graduate degree in public health

Experience

Essential: Minimum 5 years of experience in traditional and complementary medicine-related work, clinical practice, projects and research and/or public health research.
Desirable: With relevant research experience on traditional and complementary medicine products/practitioners/services, integration models of traditional and complementary medicine or health systems related issues.

Skills / Technical skills and knowledge:

Technical knowledge in traditional and complementary medicine; skills for conducting public health research; skills for systematic literature review; and skills for data analysis

Language requirements:

Written and spoken fluency in English is essential.

Location

Off site: Home-based

Travel

The consultant is expected to travel as needed.

Remuneration and budget

Remuneration: Payband level A - USD 7000/month

Expected duration of contract: 11 months

Additional Information

• This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
• A written test may be used as a form of screening.
• If your candidature is retained for interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
• For information on WHO's operations please visit: http://www.who.int.
• The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The WHO recruits workforce regardless of disability status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, race, marital status, religious, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, or any other personal characteristics.
The WHO is committed to achieving gender parity and geographical diversity in its workforce. Women, persons with disabilities, and nationals of unrepresented and underrepresented Member States (https://www.who.int/careers/diversity-equity-and-inclusion) are strongly encouraged to apply for WHO jobs.
Persons with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations to enable participation in the recruitment process. Requests for reasonable accommodation should be sent through an email to reasonableaccommodation@who.int
• An impeccable record for integrity and professional ethical standards is essential. WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter (https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/our-values) into practice.
• WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of short-listed candidates.
• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
• Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority.
• WHO shall have no responsibility for any taxes, duties, social security contributions or other contributions payable by the Consultant. The Consultant shall be solely responsible for withholding and paying any taxes, duties, social security contributions and any other contributions which are applicable to the Consultant in each location/jurisdiction in which the work hereunder is performed, and the Consultant shall not be entitled to any reimbursement thereof by WHO.
• Please note that WHO’s contracts are conditional on members of the workforce confirming that they are vaccinated as required by WHO before undertaking a WHO assignment, except where a medical condition does not allow such vaccination, as certified by the WHO Staff Health and Wellbeing Services (SHW). The successful candidate will be asked to provide relevant evidence related to this condition. A copy of the updated vaccination card must be shared with WHO medical service in the medical clearance process. Please note that certain countries require proof of specific vaccinations for entry or exit. For example, official proof /certification of yellow fever vaccination is required to enter many countries. Country-specific vaccine recommendations can be found on the WHO international travel and Staff Health and Wellbeing website. For vaccination-related queries please directly contact SHW directly at shws@who.int.
• In case the recruitment website does not display properly, please retry by: (i) checking that you have the latest version of the browser installed (Chrome, Edge or Firefox); (ii) clearing your browser history and opening the site in a new browser (not a new tab within the same browser); or (iii) retry accessing the website using Mozilla Firefox browser or using another device. Click the link for detailed guidance on completing job applications: Instructions for candidates.

..