Technical Officer – Essential Drugs and Medicines

Contract

This is a UNV National Expert contract. This kind of contract is known as National UN Volunteer. It is normally only for nationals. More about UNV National Expert contracts.

The overall mandate of the WHO Iraq- UHC/Health Systems & Life Course team is to strengthen health systems in Iraq in order to make progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and health related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).The Essential Drugs and Other Medicines (EDM) technical officer within the country team of UHC/Health Systems & Life Course contributes to two flagship priority areas of work in Iraq 1) improved access to essential medicines for UHC and 2) building national capacities for prevention and control of antimicrobial resistance. The main objective of the programme is to promote policies, build health system capacities and provide evidence-based guidance to Iraqi Ministry of Health, partners, and in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region to improve access and promote rational use of safe, efficacious, quality, and affordable essential drugs and other medicines.

Advocate and successfully influence the development of essential medicines and pharmaceutical policies and programmes that promote enhanced access to quality assured pharmaceutical products within the context of achieving universal coverage in essential services, achieving results such as: 1- Advice to the Ministry of Health on the formulation of comprehensive national drug policies and overall national master plans for policy implementation. Definition, revision, and implementation of the essential drug list in agreement and collaboration with all stakeholders. Technical advice on various areas comprising the components of national drug policy such as Drug selection, Drug supply, Drug Production, Drug Use, Drug Quality assurance and research: Development of guidelines for operational research in the area of drug use. Assessment of the national drug quality assurance system and recommending a plan for its improvement. Recommendations to improve health technologies and pharmaceuticals, including Health Technology Assessment (HTA), laboratory services, etc. Development of plans to improve access to quality essential medicine, addressing the major challenges in this area. Engagement with partners and government representatives to acquire a consensus on priorities for improving access to essential medicine. 2- Oversee and coordinate the implementation of programme activities, achieving results such as: Coordination of pharmaceutical and logistic staff for implementation of pharmaceutical supplychain activities (storage, distribution, reporting, compliance with quality requirements). Counselling patients upon drug dispensing on the proper use of the medications, their adverse reactions, and precautions for use and storage instructions. Establishment and strengthening of Emergency Medical Supplies and supervision of the rationale procurement, supply, storage and distribution of emergency medical supplies with WHO interventions. 3- Manage awareness campaigns, communication and training activities, achieving results such as: Identification of capacity building needs to strengthen national expertise in management medicine supply management; quality control; storage; dispensing; prescription and use of medicines. Planning and organisation of awareness and promotion campaigns aiming at enhancing the pharmaco-vigilance (PV) system, at promoting rational use of medicine and at developing good governance in medicine, in particular strengthening of National Drug/Medicines Authorities. Preparation of training material tailored to the specific needs. Assessment of impact of training and capacity building activities.

Teamwork Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences. Communication Ensuring the effective use of resources Driving the Organization to a Successful Future

at the national level in the area of national drug policy programmes and administration • Desirable: Good knowledge of WHO procedures and policies. • Ability to work and adapt professionally and effectively in a challenging environment; • Ability to work effectively in a multicultural team of international and national personnel

As this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing and other living essentials. National UN Volunteers receive a volunteer living allowance to sustain a basic, adequate and safe lifestyle. This allowance varies from one location to another depending on local living costs, but all national UN Volunteers in the same location receive the same allowance. Below is a summary of the Conditions of Service. Allowances The purpose of allowances for national UN Volunteers is to enable the national UN Volunteers to sustain a modest and secure standard of living at the duty station. The allowances are in no way to be understood as compensation, reward or salary in exchange for the volunteer work. Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA): All national UN Volunteers expert are entitled to a monthly volunteer living allowance of USD 2,601.70 The purpose of this allowance is to cover the basic living costs of the national UN Volunteer, and her or his family when applicable. The allowance is to ensure that the volunteer can sustain a basic, adequate and safe lifestyle. The monthly allowance rate is a fixed rate for the duty station as established by UNV headquarters. Resettlement allowance: Eligible national UN Volunteers are entitled to receive a resettlement allowance upon satisfactory completion of the assignment. The allowance assists the volunteer to reintegrate into society both professionally and personally upon completion of their UN Volunteer service. As this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing and other living essentials.

• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted. • A written test may be used as a form of screening. In the event that 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. • Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and Manual. • For information on WHO's operations please visit: http://www.who.int • WHO is committed to workforce diversity. • WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter into practice. • WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of final candidates. • WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.