National Consultant-Childhood cancer

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1. Purpose of the Consultancy

The WHO Country Office in Mongolia is looking to hire a national Consultant to support the implementation of WHO Global Initiative on Childhood Cancer and the Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines in Mongolia.

2. Background

In 2018, WHO launched the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC) with the goal of reaching at least 60% survival rate for children with cancer by 2030. The main objectives of the initiative are to (i) Increase capacity of countries to provide quality services for children with cancer, and (ii) Increase the priority of childhood cancer at the global and national level respectively.

In December 2020, Mongolia joined the Global Initiative with overall purpose to systematically address childhood cancer in the country and to contribute to the global goal to increase the survival rate for children with cancer and improve the quality of lives of children with cancer in the country. In the WHO Western Pacific Region, the Philippines (2019) and the Viet Nam (2021) are also the focus countries implementing the GICC.

With the support of WHO and WHO Collaborating Centre for Childhood Cancer - St Jude Children's Research Hospital, in 2021, the Ministry of Health of Mongolia developed and approved its first national action plan on childhood cancer control for 2021-2023 and established a Steering Committee to manage and coordinate the implementation of the national action plan at national level, led by Vice Minister of Health. Several policy documents and guidelines in support of the implementation of the action plan has been developed, approved and being implemented.

In December 2021, the WHO and St Jude Children's Research Hospital announced plans to establish a Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines (the Platform) to facilitate the provision of safe, effective and quality cancer medicines without financial hardship to approximately 120,000 children of 50 low- and middle-income countries by 2027. In this regard, WHO, St Jude, and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have been working together to create a pilot program that will launch in September 2023 with the first cohort of selected six countries, one per WHO region: Ecuador, Jordan, Mongolia, Nepal, Uzbekistan and Zambia. The Platform is expected to scale up to support additional countries as quickly as possible as the processes are established and streamlined. A comprehensive list of pediatric cancer medicines has been selected by technical experts from all three organizations for the pilot phase. Medical institutions and children in the pilot countries are expected to be receiving medicines by the time of the formal Platform launch.

Strengthening the systems for NCD prevention and control including cancer control has been a priority for Mongolia.

It is therefore important to continue the support to the country’s efforts for NCD prevention and control, cancer control including childhood cancer control, access to safe, effective and quality cancer medicines in 2023 and beyond.

.3. Planned timelines

Start date: 25 September 2023

End date: 28 July 2024

4. Work to be performed

Under the guidance of the responsible officer at WHO Country Office in Mongolia, the contractual partner shall perform the following duties:

Output 1****: Support the government counterparts on programs to prevent and control cancer including childhood cancer care and in implementing the GICC, ensuring adequate preparations and the pilot implementation of the Platform (GPACCM), and NCD-related initiatives in Mongolia

Deliverable 1.1: Coordinate among the Ministry of Health, relevant national health authorities under the Ministry of Health and WHO Country Office to develop, revise and update national guidelines, regulations and standards for childhood cancer and cancer medicines/diagnostics

Deliverable 1.2: Coordinate among MOH, relevant agencies under the Ministry of Health and WHO Country Office in conducting necessary evaluations for clinical capacity and supply of medicines/diagnostics and procurement; and implementing and monitoring national action plan for strengthening childhood cancer care.

Deliverable 1.3: Support the government counterparts on prevention and control of cancer including childhood cancer care and on any other works in relation to the implementation of GICC and the Platform and NCD-related initiatives

Output 2****: Coordinate with the Ministry of Health and relevant national health authorities for implementing the national clinical guidelines for 6 index childhood cancer care; for planning, preparing and organizing trainings of pediatric oncologists, nurses and other specialties****; coordinate and support for strengthening pediatric cancer registry and integration with the SJCARES registration system****.

Deliverable 2.1: Coordinate among MOH and relevant national agencies and centers in implementing standards of care for the 6 index cancers in the country by following the standards recommended by WHO and WHO CC St Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Deliverable 2.2: Coordinate and liaise among the Ministry of Health and its affiliated institutions, MNUMS WHO Country Office in planning, preparing and conducting trainings on implementing the national clinical guidelines for 6 index childhood cancer care for healthcare specialists

Deliverable 2.3: Support the Ministry of Health, NCMCH and NCC for developing and finalizing national pediatric cancer registry and integration with the SJCARES registration system

Deliverable 2.4: Write consolidated final report on the consultancy at the end of the consultancy period

Other Deliverables:

• Progress report of the project; and
• End of Mission Technical Report at the end of consultancy.

5. Specific requirements

Qualifications****:

University degree in medicine, or public health-related field from a recognized university

Experience****:

Essential: At least 5 years of professional experience in the public health, noncommunicable diseases, cancer control, health systems, medicine regulation or other related field.

Desirable: Proficient in standard MS Office software applications

Skills / Technical skills and knowledge****:

Essential: Proficiency in PHP programming language, HTML, MySQL,Microsoft Azure AD. Understanding of web application security principles and best practices.

Desirable: Familiarity with OJS, GitHub, Google Analytics

Language requirements****:

Written and spoken fluency in English

6. Competencies

• Technical expertise
• Ability to produce results in the given time frame
• Communication

7. Place of assignment

The contractual partner will be required to be based at the WHO Country Office Mongolia or at the Ministry of Health on a full-time basis to perform the tasks related to this activity and will be asked to be available for face-to-face/virtual technical discussions with other partners as needed.

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.
• In the event 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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