WHO
Consultancy - Health Economist for the development of financial resources requirements, costing and financing analysis Request for proposal

Reference: Health Economist
Beneficiary countries: Multiple destinations (see 'Countries' tab below)
Registration level: Basic
Published on: 18-Oct-2017
Deadline on: 18-Nov-2017 09:45 (GMT 1.00)

Description

Health Economist

Terms of Reference for Consultant

Deadline for application:  18 November 2017

 

Background

The Measles & Rubella Initiative (M&RI) is a global public-private partnership founded in 2001 by the American Red Cross (ARC), the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United Nations Foundation (UNF), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO). M&RI works to ensure no child dies from measles or is born with congenital rubella syndrome. M&RI works to achieve this goal through mobilizing resources and providing technical expertise for the planning and implementation of high quality immunization activities. In addition, M&RI also provides technical and financial support for surveillance, the global measles and rubella laboratory network, targeted measles and rubella outbreak response activities, strategic communications, and research and innovation.

In order to support resource mobilization, M&RI needs to develop and regularly update Financial Resource Requirement (FRR) to support the implementation of the Measles and Rubella Elimination Strategy Plan. With Measles and Rubella approaching an elimination goal as well as the global decreasing trend of international financial support, a rigorous and update-to-date FRR is increasingly important to ensure sufficient resources for achieving the goal. UNICEF initiated the FRR work and produced the first M&R FRR report in 2015. Since 2016, the leadership of this work moved from UNICEF to WHO.   

To attain the M&R elimination objective, it is critical to have a functional surveillance system. Current surveillance systems in many countries highly rely on Polio programmes. However, with countries getting close to Polio eradication, the programme funding is quickly decreasing and thus threatening the sustainability of surveillance systems in those countries. In this context, M&RI needs more precise and up-to-date information on the financial needs of surveillance systems at global, regional and country levels to maintain an effective MR surveillance.   

 

Purpose of the consultancy

The consultant will be the focal point for the development of M&R FRR work among M&RI partners. The consultant will provide technical support for costing surveillance at global, regional, and country levels, as well as for other immunization financing related work.

Description of the duty

The consultant will work in the EPI Team of the WHO IVB Department and will have three main areas of work:

1. Develop M&R FRR for 2018-2020:

  • To develop the new FRR framework, including identifying main indicators and data source, develop estimation methodology, structure FRR to address all M&RI financial needs.
  • To build the FRR tool which allow building a flexible database for future analyses and update, as well as a rigorous data tracking. Given the changing environment, the tool should allow for regular and easy update to reflect changes in disease epidemiology, planned immunization activities, and other relevant factors.
  • To coordinate a FRR working group and facilitate M&RI partners’ mutual efforts to collect/provide new evidence, monitor methodology, and improve data quality.
  • To report to the M&RI Management Team and FRR Working Group on the working progress and allow for quality checks.
  • To prepare the annual report of the FRR for M&RI.

Deliverables

  • M&R FRR tool developed and filled with most recent available data (July 2018)
  • M&R FRR report finalized (November 2018)

 

2. Participate to the global analysis on VPD surveillance costs:

  • To provide technical support to the development of global guidance on the methodology for costing surveillance through reviewing the proposals, technical papers and closely following the ongoing discussions.
  • To participate in the organization and coordination of pilot country analyses, including country selection, regular teleconferences with regional and country offices, country missions and analyses of collected data.
  • To participate in global or regional workshops on costing immunization surveillance and to contribute to the dissemination of guidelines and their application at country level.

Deliverables

  • Facilitator to regional meeting on guidance for costing surveillance (March 2018)
  • Pilot country studies on costing surveillance finalized (October 2018)

 

3. Support immunization financing assessments:

  • To provide technical support to the analysis of financial and economic sustainability in countries along with the development of cMYPs and EPI reviews.
  • To contribute to the analysis of JRF financing indicators for the development of the section on immunization financing of the Secretariat report on the Global Vaccine Action Plan and for the development of briefing notes for regional offices.

Deliverables

  • Financial sustainability analyses carried out during EPI Review/cMYP development (November 2018)
  • Analyses of JRF financing indicators for regional briefing notes finalized (September 2018)

 

Qualifications

  • Advanced university degree in one or more of the following disciplines: public health, health economics, infectious disease surveillance, or international development.
  • Considerable experience in costing, health economics and health financing.
  • Considerable experience in developing frameworks and costing analyses for global health issues.
  • Knowledge on Measles and Rubella Elimination programmes and/or Vaccine Preventable Disease surveillance systems could be an advantage.
  • Experience working in partnerships in the global health and development sphere.
  • Exceptional representational, verbal, and written communication skills.
  • Fluency in English (written and verbal). 
  • Knowledge of an additional United Nations language (especially French) is desirable.
  • Ability to travel internationally.

 

Duty station

The applicant will be required to work from the WHO headquarter office, in Geneva, Switzerland.

Timeline and Duration

The activities are expected to start on 1 January 2018 and terminate on 30 November 2018, with possibility for extension. Pay scale will be defined according to the level of expertise of the selected candidate.

Application Process:

Qualified applicants should submit their CV along with a cover letter, in English, by 18 November 2017 to Claudio Politi at email:  politic@who.int. Please list the position title in your email subject line and in your cover letter.  Applications that do not follow these guidelines may not be accepted.

Only successful candidates will be contacted. CVs received from this posting may be used to fill other current and future openings requiring a similar skill set.