National Consultant-Tobacco

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1. Purpose of the Consultancy

The purpose of the consultancy is to provide technical assistance to the implementation of the FCTC2030 project Mongolia and ensure the execution and regular monitoring of actions provided in the workplan.

2. Background

In Mongolia, noncommunicable diseases are estimated to account for 83% of all mortality. (NCD Country Profiles 2022, WHO) 8 in 10 people die from four common NCDs: cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease.

Smoking - one of the four main risk factors for NCDs, remains a major public health problem due to the high morbidity and mortality it causes. The smoking prevalence among people aged 15-69 is 24.2%, with 43.7% among men and 5% among women, which indicates tobacco use is 8.7 times higher among men than women (4th National STEP Survey, 2019).

The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (2019) of Mongolia reported that 14% of students with ages 13 to 15 years are currently used any tobacco products, with 21% of boys, and 6.9% of girls.

In a nationally representative survey of 3,854 individuals conducted by the MNUMS in 2019, nearly all of the individuals surveyed were aware that smoking affects their health, though education level is a factor in risk awareness. The belief that harm only occurs if an individual smokes one pack or more a day is associated with having only completed secondary education or lower. In addition, knowledge of the dangers of secondhand smoke—or at least preference for smoke free environments—is also common. About 84% of participants objected to people smoking in their house, and 98% believe it is important to have a smoke-free workplace.

Despite the tobacco control efforts in Mongolia through implementation of Law on Tobacco Control (2005) and national health policies, several challenges remain, including, but not limited to:

· Absence of dedicated national multisectoral coordinating mechanism on tobacco control;

· Resistance to increase excise tax on tobacco, which enables the price of tobacco remains affordable;

· Lack of knowledge on new and emerging tobacco products, which require effective regulations through strengthening the legal measures;

· Lack of enforcement of law and regulations on smoke-free environment.

Thus, the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the WHO, has been implementing a project to strengthen the implementation of the FCTC, in particular for certain Articles (5, 6, 8, 11, 14 and 15) according to a specific action plan.

On 30 Jan - 03 Feb 2023, at the request of the Ministry of Health, a joint technical mission of the WHO and WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) Secretariat worked in Mongolia. Based on the issues learned during the mission, the following key recommendations are made for strengthening tobacco control in Mongolia:

· Ensure full implementation of the WHO FCTC within the National long-term development policy – Vision 2050, Health Sector Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and other relevant policy documents.

· Establish and operationalize a national multisectoral coordinating mechanism for tobacco control to coordinate implementation of the WHO FCTC.

· Increase specific excise tax on conventional tobacco (cigarettes) and impose excise tax on novel tobacco and nicotine products (such as ENDS/ENNDS) on a regular basis.

Regulate Electronic Nicotine and Non-nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS/ENNDS) or ‘e-cigarettes’ in the same way as tobacco products.

3. Planned timelines

Start date: 15 September 2023

End date: 30 December 2023

4. Work to be performed

The works will require daily interaction (either face-to-face or virtual) with all the key officials involved in the implementation of the FCTC2030 Project Mongolia and the Consultant will be asked to be available for virtual technical discussions with other partners as needed.

Output 1****: Provide technical assistance in strengthening tobacco control in Mongolia through implementation of MPOWER measures and FCTC2030 project

Deliverable 1.1: Coordinate with key technical officials of the MOH and relevant agencies in implementing the 2023 workplan of the FCTC2030 project Mongolia. Develop and adopt operational documents needed for the setup and operationalization of the national coordination mechanism (NCM). These include a regulation that would define, membership, roles and responsibility, protection measures from industry interference.

Deliverable 1.2. Provide guidance and inputs to develop and revise technical regulations for the production and sale of tobacco products, update standards for tobacco products, and develop a proposal to amend the health ministerial order on health warnings

Output 2****: Provide technical assistance in support of the government efforts for strengthening the legal, fiscal and regulatory measures and provisions for tobacco control, to build capacity of health and non-health sectors and improve multisectoral cooperation on tobacco control and to implement evidence-based advocacy and information, education and communication measures.

Deliverable 2.1: Develop, revise, and translate documents and materials for capacity building workshops, and finalize them, in consultation with the MOH and relevant partners. Coordinate among the MOH and relevant partners in scheduling and organizing the workshop.

Deliverable 2.2: Support the Ministry of Health in organizing strategic engagements with Members of Parliament and key government agencies to gain their support for the proposed amendments to the tobacco control law.

Output 3****: Continue to support the government in strengthening the technical and regulatory capacity of enforcing law and regulations on smoke-free environment, and eliminating illicit trade of tobacco products

Deliverable 3.1: Coordinate among national relevant agencies and WHO and WHO FCTC Secretariat in reviewing the current situation of regulatory capacity of enforcing law and regulations on smoke-free environment and developing and implementing a plan for capacity building of technical agencies such as Customs authority.

Deliverable 3.2: Regular bi-weekly face-to-face/virtual consultations with relevant teams working on project implementation. At the end of the contract period, submit a consolidated report on the implementation of the project

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, non-communicable diseases, tobacco control, health systems, medicine regulation or related field.

Desirable: Proficient in standard MS Office software applications

Skills / Technical skills and knowledge****:

Essential: Proficiency in PHP programming language, Smarty templating system, 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

· Teamwork

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

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