The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking experts to serve as members on the Technical Advisory Group on Economic and Commercial Determinants of Health.
This “Call for experts” provides information about the advisory group in question, the profiles of the experts being sought, the process to express interest, and the process of selection.
Background
The WHO 13th General Programme of Work 2019–2023 (GPW13)1 calls for increased focus and action to address the social determinants and health. As part of this, the WHO Strategic Meeting on Social Determinants of Health (SDH) that took place in September 2019 (under the auspices of WHO’s newly established Department of Social Determinants of Health) identified the commercial determinants of health (CDoH) as an important thematic priority area2. WHO was requested to scope key activities and products for this area of work.
As a result, a new, cross-cutting Economic and Commercial Determinants of Health (CED) Unit was established to shape WHO’s approach, and to help coordinate this approach across the organization. The objective is to strengthen WHO’s work on the economic and commercial determinants globally. This means undertaking research, developing advocacy and policy tools, and supporting WHO Member States to address the economic and commercial determinants of health.
Functions of the Technical Advisory Group on Economic and Commercial Determinants of Health
The Technical Advisory Group on Economic and Commercial Determinants of Health will act as an advisory body to the World Health Organization (WHO) to further its programme of work on the economic and commercial determinants of health. The aim of this programme of work is twofold: (1) with respect to the commercial determinants, the aim is to support Member States in protecting against public health harms and safeguarding the public sector from conflicts of interest, while also leveraging the potential of the commercial sector for improving health and health equity; and (2) with respect to the economic determinants, the aim is to support Member States in addressing the upstream economic enablers and incentives of health-harming and health-promoting commercial practices.
In its capacity as an advisory body to WHO, the TAG shall have the following functions:
- To provide independent evaluation of the scientific technical and strategic aspects of the economic and commercial determinants of health;
- To recommend priorities within the Organization and/or relevant technical unit and/or in this area;
- To advise WHO on planned activities and approaches within this area;
- To advise WHO on the implementation of the economic and commercial determinants aspects of WHA74.16 Resolution on the Social Determinants of Health.; and
- To review and make recommendations to WHO on frameworks and approaches for the measurement and evaluation of the economic and commercial determinants.
Operations of the Technical Advisory Group on Economic and Commercial Determinants of Health
The TAG shall normally meet twice a year and will meet at least once each year. WHO may, however, convene additional meetings.
TAG meetings will usually be held in single sessions of no more than three hours organised virtually with the WHO Secretariat providing a calendar invite and meeting link to all participants in advance. In exceptional cases, however, TAG meetings may be convened in person for multiple day sessions of between two or three days at a time and held at either WHO headquarters in Geneva or another location, as considered appropriate by the WHO Secretariat.
The TAG may decide to establish smaller working groups (sub-groups of the TAG) to work on specific issues. Their deliberations will take place virtually and the outcome of their deliberations will be submitted to the TAG for subsequent review.
Reports of each meeting shall be submitted by the TAG to the WHO Assistant Director-General of Healthier Populations.
TAG members are expected to attend meetings. If a member misses two consecutive meetings, WHO may end their appointment as a member of the TAG. At meetings, active participation is expected from all TAG members, including in working groups and over email. TAG members may, in advance of TAG meetings, be requested to review meeting documentation and to provide their views for consideration by the TAG.
The working language of the TAG will be English and TAG meetings will be conducted in English. All TAG documentation, including reports and working documents, will be provided in English.
Who can express interest?
The Technical Advisory Group on Economic and Commercial Determinants of Health will comprise approximately 35 members serving in their personal capacities and able to represent the broad range of disciplines, knowledge, skills and experiences relevant to economic and commercial determinants of health. The members will as a whole also provide both sufficient geographic representation and gender balance.
WHO welcomes expressions of interest from scientists, lawyers, economists, health professionals, public health professionals, and other academics with expertise and experience in:
- Human rights, equity, and gender considerations with respect to the economic and commercial determinants of health.
- Commercial practices and their impact on noncommunicable diseases, mental ill-health, injuries and violence and communicable diseases.
- Commercial practices and their impact on the health sector and health systems including the organisation and financing of the health sector and the distribution of access to health services, products and technologies.
- Commercial drivers in key sectors impacting on health and wellbeing, including transport, agricultural and food systems, digital and information systems, trade, investment and finance systems, etc.
- Public health and other responses to address commercial practices that harm health and responses that foster commercial practices that promote health and wellbeing.
- The economic determinants of health in relation to commercial practices, including their impact on public policy, social and economic conditions, and the broader living conditions of daily life.
- The measurement and evaluation of the commercial determinants of health including commercial practices, their pathways of impact, and institutional enablers of effective responses.
Submitting your expression of interest
To register your interest in being considered for the Technical Advisory Group on Economic and Commercial Determinants of Health, please submit the following documents by 7 July 2024 at 24:00h (midnight) Geneva time to Sonia Bounab at cdoh@who.int using the subject line “Expression of interest for the Technical Advisory Group on Economic and Commercial Determinants of Health:
- 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 (DOI) form for WHO Experts, available at https://www.who.int/about/ethics/declarations-of-interest. After submission, your expression of interest will be reviewed by WHO. 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 WHO technical advisory groups (TAGs) must be free of any real, potential or apparent conflicts of interest. To this end, applicants are required to complete the WHO Declaration of Interests for WHO Experts, and the selection as a member of a TAG dependent on WHO determining that there is no conflict of interest or that any identified conflicts could be appropriately managed, in addition to WHO’s evaluation of an applicant’s experience, expertise and motivation and other criteria.
All TAG 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 WHO Experts (https://www.who.int/about/ethics/declarations-of-interest). TAG 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, interviews may be scheduled between an applicant and the WHO Secretariat to enable WHO 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 TAG.
The selection of members of the TAG will be made by WHO 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 TAG members will also take account of the need for diverse perspectives from different regions, especially from low and middle-income countries, and for gender balance.
If selected by WHO, proposed members will be sent an invitation letter and a Memorandum of Agreement. Appointment as a member of a TAG will be subject to the proposed member returning to WHO the countersigned copy of these two documents.
WHO 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 WHO's action. WHO may also decide, at any time, not to proceed with the establishment of the TAG, disband an existing TAG or modify the work of the TAG.
WHO 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.
WHO may publish the names and a short biography of the selected individuals on the WHO internet.
AG members will not be remunerated for their services in relation to the TAG or otherwise. Travel and accommodation expenses of TAG members to participate in TAG meetings will be covered by WHO 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 Sonia Bounab at cdoh@who.int well before the applicable deadline.
1 Thirteenth General Programme of Work, 2019-2023 (WHO/PRP/18.1)
2 Final Meeting Summary, WHO Strategic Meeting on Social Determinants of Health