Individual Consultant: Health System Preparedness and Resilience for Emergencies with Capacities in Oral Health Services

Job Description

Purpose of consultancy

A.To strengthen the human resources available at the Country Preparedness for Emergencies and IHR (CPI) unit of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme (WHE) at WHO SEAR Office (SEARO) for positioning for and implementing the Regional Strategic Roadmap on Health Security and Health System Resilience for Emergencies 2023-2027 through:

• extending the needed critical technical assistance to member states of the region to undertake M&E using the IHR M&E Framework and other relevant strategic / functional evaluation mechanisms for enhancing health security and health system resilience.
• assisting in the development / revision / updating of National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS) and Pandemic Preparedness Response Plan (PPRP) and the health components of National multi-hazard emergency / disaster risk management plans.
• surveying, documenting, and enhancing need-based use of the WHO Benchmarks for IHR and work packages of the Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases and Public Health Emergencies (APSED)-III and the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) for revision and development of NAPHS
• strengthening the linkages between WHE-SEARO International Health Regulation (IHR) NFP and Knowledge Network Platforms and WHE-HQ Global Strategic Preparedness Network (GSPN) and develop approaches for harmonization and leverage at regional level
• mapping and identifying interventions for strengthening health system resilience (HSR) for emergencies and develop methods for their roll out at country level.
• strengthening the liaison, linkages, and collaboration between WHE and other WHO departments at regional level on health security and health system resilience for emergencies related portfolios of work
• performing other ad hoc assignments in the interest of the CPI unit / WHE department as needed when directed by PAM-CPI / LRE / RED

B.To provide technical support to the Member States on implementing the Action Plan for oral health in South-East Asia 2022-2030 in the strategic action areas of:

• defining a package of essential oral health care
• defining core competencies, skills, and education requirements for oral health team members
• conducting a country capacity survey of the countries in the South-East Asia on oral health care services
• designing a monitoring framework for the Action Plan for oral health in South-East Asia 2022-2030
• ensuring implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury

Background

Health system preparedness and resilience for emergencies: COVID-19 has pushed health systems across the world to their limits, exacerbating inequalities, exposing severe gaps in public health infrastructure, impacting economies, and devastating communities and is threatening to reverse progress made towards the achievement of health-related SDGs and the Triple Billion targets. Even in countries once lauded as the gold standard of preparedness, COVID-19 has exposed significant weaknesses. Fragmented and underfunded health systems are struggling to absorb the shock of COVID-19 while maintaining routine health services.

Recent events have also demonstrated that the status of preparedness capacities is insufficient to deliver an effective response to severe and large-scale public health emergencies. Despite efforts to strengthen national, regional, and global health security. A collective failure of focus and investment in emergency risk prevention / reduction / mitigation; preparedness and response readiness that ensure health security has been revealed. An analysis of data from the State Party Annual Reports (SPAR) on International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005 compliance conducted in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic showed that countries vary widely in their ability to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from outbreaks and other public health emergencies.

The IHR Monitoring and Evaluation Framework includes various mechanisms such as the State Parties Annual Reporting (SPAR); Joint External Evaluation (JEE), After/Intra Action Reviews (AAR/IAR) and other functional reviews/assessments that engage stakeholders beyond the health sector to identify and address country level gaps in preparedness, detection, and response to public health risks. However, these processes have not resulted in countries systematically building sufficient critical capacities through the development and effective implementation of National Plans of Action for Health Security (NAPHS) and other plans such as Pandemic Preparedness and Response Plans (PPRP).

Additionally sharing of experiences and lessons while implementing interventions to enhance health security and health system resilience to foster transfer of knowledge, technologies and innovation needed for keeping the region safe, serving the vulnerable and promoting health has been suboptimal. The level of mutual accountability and recognition that countries are only as strong as the weakest link is low.

The Regional Strategic Roadmap on Health Security and Health System Resilience for Emergencies 2023-2027 takes cognizance of the multi-level issues, challenges, lessons, and developments outlined above and strives to delineate approaches and interventions that can be considered, prioritized, and implemented at national level and also identifies similar actions at regional level that are needed to augment national efforts. The Regional Roadmap has been endorsed by the 75 th meeting of the WHO SEAR Regional Committee at Paro, Bhutan in September 2022. The consultant will support the CPI unit of WHE /SEARO to position the unit to facilitate implementation of the Regional Roadmap at country and regional levels in the areas listed in the purpose of the consultancy above.

Oral health services : Oral diseases and conditions are highly prevalent and are among the most common NCDs in the South-East Asia. In 2019, the cases of untreated dental caries, severe periodontal diseases and edentulism in the region was estimated to be more than 900 million. The South-East Asia region has the highest oral cancer incidence and mortality rates among all WHO regions. All countries of the region have shortage of dentistry personnel (dentists, dental assistants dental laboratory technicians) and where available, there is significant geographic misdistribution. Oral health care is often associated with high out-of-pocket expenditure leading to catastrophic expenditure for poorer households.

SEA/RC74 noted the gaps in the progress of oral health programmes in the region and as a way forward, requested to the Regional Director to convene technical consultations to develop a Regional Action Plan on oral health with monitoring framework and measurable targets.

Considering the burden of the oral diseases and conditions in the region and the gaps of implementation of the Strategy for Oral health in South-East Asia, 2013-2020, the Action Plan for Oral Health in South-East Asia, 2022-2030 and measurable targets were developed through technical consultations of the national experts and Member States consultation.

The plan proposes a set of six strategic action areas. Of them, the following areas will require the expertise of a dental/oral health professional with experiences in public health and management to design the relevant guiding material, tools and to guide, monitor and report the implementation

• define a package of essential oral health care
• define core competencies, skills, and education requirements for oral health team members
• conduct a country capacity survey of the countries in the South-East Asia on oral health care services
• design monitoring framework for the Action Plan for oral health in South-East Asia 2022-30
• ensure implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury

Deliverables

Health system preparedness and resilience for emergencies :

Quarterly progress and final summary reports (appending the tools and products developed) on technical assistance needed for and provided to country offices and member states to:

• plan, prioritize and enhance implementation of IHR-MEF tools in the country context
• develop/ revise / update National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS); health components of National multi-hazard emergency / disaster risk management plans; National Hazard Specific Preparedness and Response Plans for public health emergencies

Comprehensive report on:

• • survey of utilization of the WHO Benchmarks for IHR and work packages of the Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases and Public Health Emergencies (APSED)-III and the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) for revision and development of NAPHS or equivalent
  • mapping of available action packages needed for strengthening health system resilience (HSR) for emergencies along with the draft action plan for their roll out at country level
  • strengthening collaboration between WHE and other WHO departments at regional level on health security and health system resilience for emergencies related portfolios of work highlighting the key lessons learned for sustaining collaboration
• Operationalization of Global Strategic Preparedness Network (GSPN) channel on WHE SEARO NFP+ platform in coordination with LST/HQ and HSP/HQ with process documentation and updated SOP for efficient maintenance
• Final consultancy report highlighting the key achievements, challenges encountered, and lessons learned during the assignment

Oral health services :

Deliverable 1 - A model package of essential oral health services (promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative) for primary and secondary levels of health care adapted to countries in the WHO South-East Asia Region

Deliverable 2 - A defined set of core competencies, skills, and education requirements for oral health team members to deliver the model package of essential oral health services in primary and secondary levels of health care

Deliverable 3 - A report of the capacity of the countries in the South-East Asia on oral health care services and to conduct a baseline Country Capacity survey

Deliverable 4 - A framework to monitor the progress of the Action Plan for oral health in South-East Asia 2022-2030 and countries supported to design the national oral health information systems

Deliverable 5 - A situation analysis of the status of the implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury and an implementation roadmap on the Minamata Convention on Mercury for the South-East Asia Region

Specific requirements

Qualifications required:

Essential:

• University degree in health sciences, oral health, medicine, public health, or related domains
• Post-graduation in emergency / disaster preparedness, development, and management disciplines

Experience required

Essential:

• 10 years of experience in working in the public health sector and health care settings supporting national governments in programme development, implementation and monitoring, assessments / evaluations.
• Demonstrated experience of working in resource limited settings

Desirable:

• Engagement in health emergency preparedness or COVID-19 pandemic response or research.
• Engagement with WHO at country level.
• Work experience in national oral health programmes

Skills/Knowledge:

• Excellent and demonstrated writing, oral presentation, and communication skills
• Demonstrated knowledge and skills in health emergencies and health system governance
• Positive attitude to learning new skills and working with a team with capacity to work under high pressure and tight time constraints
• Analysis and troubleshooting skills, with aptitude and sound judgement for problem solving
• Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office Suite

Languages and level required (Basic/Intermediate/Expert):

Essential: English - read, write, and speak at expert level

Desirable: Knowledge of official language(s) of one/more member states of the region would be an asset

Place of assignment : On site: New Delhi, WHO-SEARO

Travel: Travel to member states within the region may be needed

Closing Date: Oct 20, 2022