The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is seeking experts to serve as members of the Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) on Noncommunicable Diseases and Risk Factors. This “Call for Experts” provides information about the Strategic Advisory Group in question, the expert profiles being sought, the process to express interest, and the process of selection.
Issued on: April 4 2024
Deadline: May 17 2024
Background
Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) continue to be the leading causes of ill health, disability, and death in the Region of the Americas, responsible for 5.8 million deaths (81% of total deaths) each year, a third of which occur prematurely (between ages 30 and 70 years). Current estimates are that 240 million adults in the Americas live with at least one NCD and require access to continuous care. They include cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory diseases, among others, and they share risk factors of tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity.
Despite adoption of global and regional NCD plans of actions, targets, and monitoring, and with many of the gains adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, no country in the Region of the Americas is on track to meet all nine targets of the WHO Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs.
The prevention of NCDs requires multisectoral public policies that address the social determinants of health, promote environmental changes favorable to health, and strive for policy coherence across governmental sectors. Cost-effective NCD prevention and control initiatives are well established and include policies and regulatory interventions to prevent and reduce exposure to risk factors through the Best Buys, as well as screening, diagnosis, and treatment for NCDs through primary health care services.
Furthermore, with regards to NCD management, significant gaps persist in the availability of quality health services. Coupled with the disruptions in health services and increases in foregone care as a consequence of COVID-19, there is now an urgent need to recover and recuperate NCD prevention and control services, while many countries are accelerating expansion of primary health services, leveraging innovations adopted during the pandemic.
The Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) on Noncommunicable Diseases and Risk Factors will act as an advisory body to PAHO to advance the Organization’s agenda on the prevention and control of NCDs in the Region of the Americas.
Functions of the Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) on Noncommunicable Diseases and Risk Factors
In its capacity as an advisory body to PAHO, the SAG shall have the following functions:
- To advise on strategies and interventions to scale up the prevention and control of risk factors for NCD and strengthen health promoting interventions throughout the life course.
- To provide guidance on the implementation of the PAHO Corporate Initiative on Better Care for NCDs to strengthen the integration of NCDs in primary health care in the Americas, its scale up at the national level and sustainability.
- To provide advice and guidance on how countries of the Region of the Americas might achieve the targets set for the Sustainable Development Goals 2030, overall, in the Region of the Americas as well as in each Member State.
- To recommend strategies to PAHO, aimed at strengthening intersectoral technical cooperation with Member States, and building multisectoral engagement to promote a health-in-all policies approach at the national level.
Operations of the Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) on Noncommunicable Diseases and Risk Factors
The SAG shall normally meet at least twice each year, with one in-person meeting and one virtual meeting with the working languages being English and Spanish. However, PAHO may convene additional meetings. SAG meetings may be held in person (at PAHO headquarters in or another location, as determined by PAHO) or virtually, via video or teleconference.
Who can express interest?
The Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) on Noncommunicable Diseases and Risk Factors will be multidisciplinary, with members who have a range of technical knowledge, skills and experience relevant to noncommunicable diseases and prevention and control of risk factors. Approximately 15 members may be selected.
PAHO welcomes expressions of interest from:
- Health professionals
- Academics
- Persons with lived experience
- Civil society representatives
- Public health experts
- International financial institutions
- Scientists
- Inter-American organizations and agencies
- International development institutions and agencies.
Submitting your expression of interest
To register your interest in being considered for the Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) on Noncommunicable Diseases and Risk Factors, please submit the following documents by May 17, 11:59pm, Washington, D.C., time to lucianis@paho.org and ortizs@paho.org using the subject line “Expression of interest for the Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) on Noncommunicable Diseases and Risk Factors”:
- A cover letter, indicating your motivation to apply and how you satisfy the selection criteria. Please note that, if selected, membership will be in a personal capacity. Therefore, do not use the letterhead or other identification of your employer);
- Your curriculum vitae; and
- A signed and completed Declaration of Interests form for PAHO/WHO Experts (PDF, 279.47KB).
After submission, your expression of interest will be reviewed by PAHO. Due to an expected high volume of interest, only selected individuals will be informed.
Important information about the selection processes and conditions of appointment
Members of PAHO SAGs must be free of any real, potential, or apparent conflicts of interest. To this end, applicants are required to complete the PAHO Declaration of Interests for PAHO Experts, and the selection as a member of a SAG is, amongst other things, dependent on PAHO determining that there is no conflict of interest or that any identified conflicts could be appropriately managed (in addition to PAHO’s evaluation of an applicant’s experience, expertise and motivation and other criteria).
All SAG members will serve in their individual expert capacity and shall not represent any governments, any commercial industries or entities, any research, academic or civil society organizations, or any other bodies, entities, institutions, or organizations. They are expected to fully comply with the Code of Conduct for PAHO Experts. SAG members will be expected to sign and return a completed confidentiality undertaking prior to the beginning of the first meeting.
At any point during the selection process, telephone interviews may be scheduled between an applicant and PAHO’s Secretariat to enable PAHO to ask questions relating to the applicant’s experience and expertise and/or to assess whether the applicant meets the criteria for membership in the relevant SAG. The selection of members of the SAGs will be made by PAHO in its sole discretion, taking into account the following (non-exclusive) criteria: relevant technical expertise; experience in international and country policy work; communication skills; and ability to work constructively with people from different cultural backgrounds and orientations. The selection of SAG members will also take into account of the need for diverse perspectives from different regions, especially from low and middle-income countries, and for gender balance.
If selected by PAHO, proposed members will be sent an invitation letter. Appointment as a member of a SAG will be subject to the proposed member returning to PAHO the countersigned copy of this document, as well as the Declaration of Interests Form and the confidentiality undertaking mentioned above.
PAHO reserves the right to accept or reject any expression of interest, to annul the open call process and reject all expressions of interest at any time without incurring any liability to the affected applicant or applicants and without any obligation to inform the affected applicant or applicants of the grounds for PAHO's action. PAHO may also decide, at any time, not to proceed with the establishment of the SAG, disband an existing SAG or modify the work of the SAG.
PAHO shall not in any way be obliged to reveal, or discuss with any applicant, how an expression of interest was assessed, or to provide any other information relating to the evaluation/selection process or to state the reasons for not choosing a member.
PAHO may publish the names and a short biography of the selected individuals on the PAHO internet.
SAG members will not be remunerated for their services in relation to the SAG or otherwise. Travel and accommodation expenses of SAG members to participate in SAG meetings will be covered by PAHO in accordance with its applicable policies, rules, and procedures.
The appointment will be limited in time as indicated in the letter of appointment.
If you have any questions about this “Call for experts”, please write to lucianis@paho.org and ortizs@paho.org, well before the application deadline.