International consultant for the development of National Health Insurance Funds policy

National consultant for the development of National Health Insurance Funds policy in Sudan

1. Purpose of the consultancy

The main purpose of this consultancy is to develop National Health Insurance Fund’s (NHIF) first ever Policy and other related operational guidelines, in accordance with the National Health Policy 2017- 30, National Health Financing Policy 2016, NHIF Act 2016, decrees and various relevant policy documents. NHIF policy development is expected to strengthen governance of NHIF at the central level and reinforce its functional integration with branch offices at the state level and improvement of its operational processes.

2. Background

NHIF, affiliated to the Ministry of Social Development (MSD), and is the national health insurance scheme of Sudan. NHIF is characterized by a centralized planning at the Headquarters based in Khartoum and decentralized structure for implementation at the state levels. Its future vision is to provide a comprehensive health safety and security net to all people living in Sudan and based on the principles of equity and social justice. This requires a thorough revision and a complete overhaul of the existing health insurance system with a clearly written policy document. Therefore, formulation of NHIF Policy is essential to provide a sound base that provides appropriate direction to improve overall performance of the NHIF. It will reinforce NHIF’s integration with various stakeholders and define clear implementation processes required at the national and subnational levels to achieve NHIF’s desired goals.

NHIF was established in 1994 but it has no written policy document to guide its strategies and regulate its operations. At the present time, there are existing Constitutional Acts and relevant decrees that are fully supported by the National Health Financing Policy (HFP) for its current functioning. In addition to that, the Sudan National Health Policy (2017 – 2030) offers a major shift that proclaims to “move away from out of pocket financed health care to prepaid financed health system with protection of marginalized and vulnerable populations”.

The objective of the assignment is to recruit an international consultant to provide expertise in:

i. Development of National Health Insurance Policy.

ii. Development of National Health Insurance Fund Operational Policies

iii. To formulate NHIF ( SOPs).

3. Planned Timelines:

Start date: 28.02.2023.

End date: 27.08.2023.

4. Work to be performed

Output 1

Review and assess the existing national related policies of various ministries and departments in Sudan, global, and regional agreements to which Sudan is a signatory and align NHIF policy development process for streamlining both vertical and horizontal dimensions of NHIF governance and operations at national and sub-national levels. Emphasis should be focused on NHIF’s working relations and integrate with established national polices and legislative frameworks, thereby linking the decentralization of health and political-administrative system in Sudan.

▪ Deliverable 1.1: Conduct stakeholders’ workshops at the start of the process to generate policy dialogue, identify needed policy shifts, important reforms, and generate consensus on the common grounds towards a new NHIF Policies document and roadmap.

▪ Deliverable 1.2: Develop an assessment report after the workshops and stakeholder dialogue that entails documented policies, national and local laws, concerned decrees, incorporating historical background of NHIF, and its ramifications to influence current NHIF policy process and products through recommendations - including steps towards removing existing barriers.

▪ Deliverable 1.3: Develop clear frameworks for current NHIF operations and proposed modifications that are essential to achieve its future goals and aspirations.

Output 2

Development of NHIF policy documents and emanating operational policies.

▪ Deliverable 2.1: Elaborate and prepare a basic draft policy framework that clearly highlights cross-sectoral linkages, strong reflections on the initiative for Health in All Policies (HiAP), decentralizations initiatives and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) declaration. This should lead to further policy deliberations from beneficiaries, professional organizations, social society & non-state actors, private sector, regulatory bodies, media, and key decision makers at the federal, state, locality, and community levels.

▪ Deliverable 2.2: Develop preliminary NHIF policies document and conduct interactive and participatory follow-up workshops after disseminating the above policies draft to receive and incorporate technical feedback, expert comments, critical reviews thereby reflecting all views 3 and lead towards delivering a final NHIF policies for the approval of NHIF Board of Directors and relevant policies & legislative bodies within and beyond the concerned ministries.

▪ Deliverable 2.3: Review the final NHIF Policies manuscripts for technical writing, proper referencing, editing, and providing it for printing and proof-reading of the hard copy for technical and editorial accuracy.

▪ Deliverable 2.4: Develop manual for NHIF operational procedures that are derived from the agreed NHIF policy, that include reference towards but not limited to the following:

o Health Care Service Provision Policy and packages

o Health Care Purchasing Policy, including provider payment

o Health Insurance Poor Families Coverage Policy

o Health Insurance National Roaming Policy

Output 3

Development of comprehensive consultancy report that describe the methodology and all processes followed throughout the NHIF policies development consultancy and processes.

▪ Deliverable 3.1: Conduct final seminar and inaugural ceremony to launch NHIF policies and other related operational guidelines.

▪ Deliverable 3.2: Submit detailed report of the consultancy, including methodologies, interviews, data collected both in hard and soft copies

5. Specific Requirements

- Qualifications required:

Advanced university degree (master’s level) in Public Health, Health Policy, Health Economics, Health Financing, and related disciplines.

- Experience required:

7 to 10 years of relevant experience in health policy development.

- Technical skills and knowledge:

• Demonstrated knowledge of health systems and policy research methods, specifically qualitative and/or mixed methods approaches.

• Good analytic skills.

- Language requirements:

Expert knowledge in English language.

6. Place of Assignment

Khartoum, Sudan

7. Medical clearance

The selected Consultant will be expected to provide a medical certificate of fitness for work.

8. Travel

The Consultant is not expected to travel. All travel arrangements will be made by WHO – WHO will not be responsible for tickets purchased by the Consultant without the express, prior authorization of WHO. While on a mission under the terms of this consultancy, the Consultant will receive a subsistence allowance.

Visas requirements: it is the consultant’s responsibility to fulfil visa requirements and ask for visa support letter(s) if needed.

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.
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