Call for experts – Technical Advisory Group on Gestational Weight Gain (TAG-GWG)

Background

Pregnancy is a unique period in the life cycle to implement interventions to optimize longer-term maternal and child health. Pregnant women frequent contact with the healthcare system and their strong motivation to optimize their health makes pregnancy ‘an especially powerful teachable moment’ for many lifestyle factors, including weight management. Several systematic reviews have concluded that lifestyle and medical interventions targeting pregnant women can effectively lead to gestational weight gain (GWG) within recommended ranges, highlighting the importance of monitoring this indicator.

To date, there is no global chart for GWG monitoring or no international recommendations on optimal weight gain. The World Health Organization (WHO) antenatal care (ANC) guideline references the use of the 2009 Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines. However, these guidelines were created for North American women and were not intended to be used for other populations. Most GWG charts published as of yet were primarily derived from populations in high-income countries (HICs), or not covering the entire range of pre-pregnancy body-mass-index (BMI). As the case of the IOM guidelines, their generalizability to most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) may be limited.

Global GWG standards and recommendations, based on data from diverse context of both HICs and LMICs, are a critical gap for health and well-being during pregnancy and postnatal periods, as well as related WHO recommendations and tools. The activities in the current project will provide an opportunity to develop global guidance and tools on the assessment of GWG, and prevent unhealthy GWG that could adversely affect maternal and newborn health worldwide. 

Functions of the TAG-GWG

The TAG-GWG will advise WHO on: 

• the detailed protocol, including the definition of the eligibility criteria to determine a sample that is as prescriptive as possible; 
• the methods and approaches to be used for the development of the international GWG standards; and, 
• a research plan required to define optimal GWG ranges and recommendations.

All recommendations from the TAG-GWG are advisory to WHO. Members must respect the impartiality and independence required of WHO. In performing their work, they may not seek or accept instructions from any Government or authority external to the Organization.

Operations of the TAG-GWG

1. TAG-GWG members will normally convene in person once a year and virtually when required. Interim teleconferences may be required of the members. The working language of the group will be English.
2. TAG-GWG members will not be remunerated for their participation in the TAG-GWG. However, reasonable expenses such as travel expenses incurred by attendance at TAG-GWG meetings will be compensated by WHO as appropriate and in accordance with the applicable rules and policies of the appointing organization.
3. Membership in TAG-GWG may be terminated by WHO as appropriate, including for any of the following reasons:
• Failure to attend two consecutive TAG-GWG meetings;
• Change in affiliation resulting in a conflict of interest; 
• A lack of professionalism involving, for example, a breach of confidentiality.
4. The TAG-GWG will submit reports of each meeting to WHO. All recommendations from the TAG-GWG are advisory to WHO, who retains complete control over any subsequent decisions or actions regarding any proposals, policy issues, or other matters considered by the TAG-GWG.  WHO also retain complete control over the publication of the reports of the TAG-GWG, including whether or not to publish them.
5. Information and documentation to which members may gain access in performing TAG-GWG-related activities will be considered confidential and proprietary to WHO and/or parties collaborating with WHO. TAG-GWG members shall not purport to speak on behalf of, or represent, the TAG-GWG or WHO to any third party. All proposed members must sign an appropriate confidentiality undertaking and provisions related to ownership of TAG-GWG intellectual property.

Who can express interest?

The TAG-GWG will be multidisciplinary, with members who have a range of technical knowledge, skills and experience, including key and influential thinkers relevant to Gestational Weight Gain. Up to 15 members will be selected.

WHO welcomes expressions of interest from experts on:

• Maternal and child health/nutrition 
• Nutritional epidemiology
• Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology (researchers and clinical practitioners)
• Perinatal epidemiology
• Medical statistics
• Stakeholders/public health specialists in women’s reproductive health

Submitting your expression of interest

To register your interest in being considered for the TAG-GWG, please submit the following documents by 23:59h Geneva time on 7 April 2023 to NFSdata@who.int using the subject line “Expression of interest for the TAG-GWG”:

• A cover letter, indicating your motivation to apply and outlining 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 (CV) (maximum 5 pages);
• A list of peer-reviewed publications; 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 is, amongst other things, 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, telephone 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 TAGs 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.

TAG 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 NFSdata@who.int well before the applicable deadline.