Consultants-Review and update the Harm Reduction guideline

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Consultant for the review and update the Harm Reduction guideline

1. Background

Harm reduction is defined as policies, programs and practices recommended by the WHO, UNODC, and UNAIDS that aim to minimize the negative health, social and legal impacts associated with drug use, drug policies and drug laws.

The comprehensive package of harm reduction interventions to reduce the negative health impact of People Who Inject Drugs (PID), includes 9 interventions: (1) Needle/syringe programs; (2) Opioid substitution therapy; (3) HIV testing and counselling; (4) HIV care and treatment; (5) condom programming for PIDs and their partners; (6) behavioral interventions; (7) prevention and treatment of viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, and mental health problems; (8) sexual and reproductive health interventions; and (9) provision of naloxone for overdose prevention in the PID community.

People who use drugs are at higher risk for HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and viral hepatitis B and C (HBV and HCV), and overdose. Globally, about 11 million people inject drugs. Approximately 1 in 8 (or 1.4 million) of these people are living with HIV (UNODC World Drug Report, 2020), while 39.4% have HCV (Grebely et al., Addiction, 2019).

Injecting drug use accounts for approximately 10% of new HIV infections worldwide (UNAIDS, 2020). And about 23 to 39% of new HCV infections occur among people who inject drugs. Globally, 1 in 3 HCV deaths are attributable to injection drug use. In addition, there are approximately 2.3 million HIV-HCV co-infections worldwide, of which more than half (1.3 million) occur in people who inject drugs (WHO, 2016).

The number of drug users in Mozambique, in particular injecting drug users has been increasing as well as its health consequences for the users.

WHO intends to respond to the request from the Ministry of Health, National Directorate of Public Health to review and update the National Harm Reduction Guidelines and development of training package on harm reduction for different stakeholders?

2.Deliverables

After signing the contract, the consultant must submit an

1.An inception report with a more detailed consultancy chronogram.

2.A comprehensive desk review management of harm reduction including country situation analysis, which covers the experience implemented by MSF and the result of the interviews that will be done. This is to be done immediately after the signing of the contract and approval of the inception report and completed within the first month of the consultancy.

3.National Harm Reduction Guidelines

4.Training package on harm reduction

5.Final report of the work describing all process of the consultancy

3.Qualifications, experience, skills, and languages

Educational Qualifications

•Essential: Advanced university degree in medicine or related equivalent social sciences.

•Desirable: master's public Health and Knowledge in Harm Reduction in People who inject Drugs

Experience

Essential:

•At least 5 years of progressive experience in the development Health-related Strategic Plans, including experience in writing health objectives, indicators, and definition targets.

•In-depth knowledge/experience of working with the matter related to drug use, including drug use disorders, and their health consequences in health, especially for Persons Who Inject Drugs (PWID), in AFRO region, world and particularly in Mozambique.

•Experience with technical writing, literature review, data synthesis, and report writing.

•Experience in working with the Ministry of Health in a developing country.

•Have knowledge of current legislation regarding drug use in Mozambique.

•Experience in training module development

Desirable:

•Experience working with international organizations such as the UN system, the Global Fund, and others.

Skills/Knowledge

•Good analytical, planning, and organizational skills

•Ability to manage stress and time

•Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office.

•Good communication, presentation, and coordination skills

Languages and levels required

•Very good command of the Portuguese language (advanced level)

•Working knowledge of the English language (intermediate level)

4. Technical Supervision

•The consultant will work under the supervision of the focal point at the Department of Mental Health in the Ministry of Health in collaboration with PNC ITS, HIV/AIDS (including viral hepatitis) and PNCT programs,

•Once a week, whenever possible will meet the WHO STI, HIV, and Viral Hepatitis Technical officer (Nurbai Calú – [email protected] ) and WHO Mental Health Technical Officer (MAGUELE, Raquel Dulce - [email protected] ) to update the progress of the consultancy

5.Location

Department of Mental Health in the Ministry of Health (address: Av. Eduardo Mondlane nº 1008, Maputo)

1.Travel - If travel is involved, full medical clearance is required

No travel expected

6.Duration

Two months

7.Remuneration and budget (travel costs excluded)

Rate [daily or monthly or for language and publishing services by word count or a number of pages]: Monthly rate

Currency: USU

Work schedule (if applicable):

Please refer to Information Note 09/2021 for guidance on rates for consultants.