NCD technical consultant- Lao PDR

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes are responsible for 74% (41 million) of all deaths worldwide. More than three-quarters of all NCD deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and the rise of NCDs in any country is often paired with rapid and poorly planned urbanisation. The epidemic of NCDs poses devastating health consequences for individuals, families and communities, and threatens to overwhelm health systems. This project will look at supporting NCD prevention and management in Laos.

The technical consultant for this project is expected to support the assessment of existing health relevant structures and stakeholders. In particular, the project will be establishing a pilot NCD care collaboration between a Tier 1 hospital in Vientiane and its primary health care affiliates, and the consultant is expected to lead the support of NCD prevention and management protocol and guidelines, in close collaboration with stakeholders. The consultant will also support the development of health literacy packages for NCD prevention, and health worker training curriculum modelled after the WHO PEN training materials.
Activities and deliverables:

– Lead the development of technical guidelines associated with NCD prevention, management and treatment that will be suitable for the Laos context.

– Work together with internal and external stakeholders to assess existing structures to determine the most appropriate mechanisms for the coordinating and governing the Government’s response to NCDs, using an agreed institutional assessment criteria or tool;

– Support the engagement of stakeholders to identify existing multisectoral coordinating structures which could be considered for coordinating national NCD multisectoral responses;

– Recommend the most appropriate mechanism and modality for model NCD clinic with linkages to primary health care for referral network at a tier 1 hospital with coordinating structure to be considered by government and other stakeholders;

– Lead the development of thematic training and workshops that are organized with core stakeholders from the prevention and curative sides

– Recommend strategies, including sustainable financing strategies, for using the structure to strengthen multi-stakeholder collaboration between government, civil society and the private sector for NCDs, while safeguarding public health from conflicts of interest

– Provide technical assistance and representation as required to ensure delivery of project outputs

Skills/experience
• Demonstrated proficiency in English (Speaking and writing)
• Familiarity with the diagnosis and treatment protocol of at least one NCD.
• Medical background with public health qualifications preferred.
• Experience in implementing multisectoral NCD initiatives at the primary health care level in a developing country in Asia will be a bonus.

The consultant can work remotely but has to be based in the Asia-Pacific region. Travel to Laos is anticipated to take place 2-3 times over the course of the project, with each visit lasting no more than a week. These requirements are flexible and can be negotiated with the selected candidate.