Background

A Pharmaceutical pricing policy is a set of written principles or requirements for managing the prices of pharmaceutical products, agreed or adopted by a public institution, a group of purchasing organizations or individual health services. The importance of attaining affordable access to pharmaceutical products in the global efforts towards universal health coverage has long been recognized. Most recently, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has set SDG Target 3.8 as “financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all”. By extension, achieving this SDG is the responsibility of all levels of governments of Member States and the global community.

Currently, there are various options of policy interventions that could be applied for setting, managing or influencing prices of pharmaceutical products that countries can choose from based on their local contexts. Therefore, countries are expected to choose the most suitable pricing intervention(s) that fits its local context before commencing the development of national pricing policy. The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) through financial and technical support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) would, therefore, like to recruit 2X technical advisors to conduct a situation analysis on pricing strategies and medicines prices in the private and public sector, and make evidence-based recommendations on the most suitable pricing strategy(s) for Namibia.  

The two advisors will work with a local consultant in determining the need for a new medicines pricing policy for Namibia: and provide advisory support to the project steering committee.

Duties and Responsibilities

To support the Ministry of Health in assessing the need for a medicine pricing policy and if required, develop a roadmap for the development of the medicine pricing policy.

• To support the MOHSS to provide high quality technical oversight of the work of the consultants
• To provide the MOHSS with regular updates on the outputs of the consultants activities
• To conduct with the MoHSS a stakeholder consultation on the proposal for the need for a new medicines pricing policy
• Kick-off/Inception Meeting with MOHSS to confirm the ToR of the Project Steering Committee
• Review the workplan of the consultant/s and provide guidance to the MoHSS throughout the process
• Discuss the updates from the consultant/s with the MoHSS and provide recommendations on how to maximize the utility of the work of the consultant/s/s
• Review the deliverables of the consultant/s and provide advice to the MoHSS to inform next steps
• Based on the results of the consultants’ activities, advice the MOHSS on the need for a new medicines pricing policy.
• If the policy is required, provide technical inputs on the roadmap to develop the policy, including through  consultation with internal and external stakeholders.
• Guidance to the MoHSS before, during and after the contracting of the consultant/s
• Oversight and supervision of technical deliverables
• High quality situational analysis report on the need for medicine pricing policy in Namibia
•  Stakeholder engagements for internal and external stakeholders
• Support the review and validation of the pricing policy for Namibia

1. Deliverables and Payment Milestones and Percentages

Competencies

• Technical expertise and experience in performing analysis, interpretation of data  to inform pharmaceutical pricing policies;
• Proven track record of delivering projects of similar scope and complexity within constrained timeframes; and
• Demonstrated ability to work in partnership with the Ministries of Health and other health related and relevant organizations/ institutions.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

PhD/DrPH, knowledge in Health Systems Strengthening and Pharmaceutical Policy Development or Master's in Public Health Sciences / Master's in Health Economics or other similar degree in the field of Medical or Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Experience

• At least 10 years of experience in the field of Pharmaceutical Policy Development, of which ideally at least 5 years working in the pharmaceutical sector in the SADC and/ or African Region.
• Extensive knowledge and experience in Health Systems Strengthening and the development and implementation of policies, strategies and plans.
• Extensive knowledge of Pharmaceutical Systems in the WHO African Region will be an added advantage.

Language Requirements:

• Proficiency in English, both written and oral, is a must;
• Fluency in one or several other UN working languages (s) would be an added advantage

Recommended Method of Application and Presentation of Offer;

• Completed Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the Template provided by UNDP;
• Personal CV or a P11 Personal History form, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
• Provide Brief description of Approach to Work / Technical Proposal of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a proposed methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment (max 1 page).
• To view the full Terms of Reference (TOR) and download letter of confirmation of interest and P11 form, please access the UNDP Procurement Notice site on the link: https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=87424

Financial proposal:

Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per above provided link Of Confirmation of Interest document. (based on the number of working days mentioned ToR.)

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• Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply;
• Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.