Pharmaceutical Officer

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

Contribute to the planning, formulation, implementation, and monitoring of the WHO medicines programme and strategy in Egypt. Provide technical support to strengthen the national regulatory system and capacity to safeguard the quality, safety, and efficacy of medicines and medical products circulating in the local market. Provide technical support for the development, adoption, and implementation of a comprehensive national medicines policy and essential medicines list. Support the country in establishing an efficient supply chain management system to ensure the flow of quality essential medicines and medical products regularly and in sufficient quantities to all levels of the distribution chain. Promote the rational use of medicines and medical products and practices that will contribute to reducing antimicrobial resistance.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

1. Advocate and successfully influence the development of essential medicines and pharmaceutical policies and programmes that promote enhanced access to quality assured pharmaceutical products within the context of achieving universal coverage in essential services, achieving results such as: Advice to the Ministry of Health on the formulation of comprehensive national medicine policies and overall national master plans for policy implementation. Definition, revision and implementation of the essential medicine list in agreement and collaboration with all stakeholders. Technical advice on various areas comprising the components of national medicine policy such as medicine selection, supply Production, Use, Quality assurance and research. Development of guidelines for operational research in the area of medicine use. Assessment of the national medicine quality assurance system and recommending a plan for its improvement. Recommendations to improve health technologies and pharmaceuticals, including Health Technology Assessment (HTA), laboratory services, etc. Development of plans to improve access to quality essential medicine, addressing the major challenges in this area. Engagement with partners and government representatives to acquire a consensus on priorities for improving access to essential medicine
2. Oversees and coordinates the implementation of programme activities, achieving results such as: Coordination of pharmaceutical and logistic staff for implementation of pharmaceutical supply chain activities (storage, distribution, reporting, compliance with quality requirements) Counselling patients upon drug dispensing on the proper use of the medications, their adverse reactions, and precautions for use and storage instructions. Establishment and strengthening of Emergency Medical Supplies and supervision of the rationale procurement, supply, storage and distribution of emergency medical supplies with WHO interventions.
3. Manages awareness campaigns, communication and training activities, achieving results such as: Identification of capacity building needs to strengthen national expertise in management medicine supply management; quality control; storage; dispensing; prescription and use of medicines. Planning and organization of awareness and promotion campaigns aiming at enhancing the pharmaco-vigilance (PV) system, at promoting rational use of medicine and at developing good governance in medicine, in particular strengthening of National Drug/Medicines Authorities. Preparation of training material tailored to the specific needs. Assessment of impact of training and capacity building activities.
4. Strengthen national regulatory authorities to ensure the quality, safety and efficacy of medicines and medical products: Strengthen national regulatory capacity to ensure the quality of health products by assessing regulatory systems using the WHO global benchmarking tool as the standard to determine the maturity and performance of national regulatory authorities for designation as WHO-Listed Authorities; Address identified gaps in regulatory capacity for quality-assured and safe medical products; Define local production and develop model strategies for quality-assured medicines and other medical products, including by strengthening regulatory oversight and quality local production; Strengthen post-market surveillance for the quality, safety and efficacy of health products in order to improve the prevention and detection of, and the response to, substandard and falsified medical products.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential: University degreein Medicine or Pharmacy is required.
Desirable: Degree in public health or related field. A study in Pharmacology or clinical pharmacology, or Pharmaceutical Sciences or Medicines wouldbe a definite asset.

Experience

Essential: At least 5 years of experience required at the national level in the area of national drug policy programmes and administration
Desirable: Good knowledge of WHO procedures and policies.

Skills

• Knowledge about WHO Programme on Essential Medicines and Health Technologies
• Knowledge of WHO and/or UN procurement procedures
• Excellent technical knowledge in the field of drugs and pharmaceuticals
• Ability to develop national and Interagency Coordination Programmes on essential drugs

WHO Competencies

Teamwork
Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
Communication
Ensuring the effective use of resources
Driving the Organization to a Successful Future

Use of Language Skills

Essential: Expert knowledge of English. Expert knowledge of Arabic.

Other skills (e.g. IT)

Proficiency in MS Office applications.

REMUNERATION

Remuneration comprises an annual base salary starting at USD 51,388 (to be paid in local currency and subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable) and 30 days of annual leave.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade level

• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.

• A written test and/or an asynchronous video assessment may be used as a form of screening.

• In the event that your candidature is retained for an 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.

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• This is a National Professional Officer position. Therefore, only applications from nationals of the country where the duty station is located will be accepted. Applicants who are not nationals of this country will not be considered.

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