The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking experts to serve as members of the Technical Advisory Group for Leprosy (TAG-Leprosy). This “Call for experts” provides information about the advisory group in question, the expert profiles being sought, the process to express interest, and the process of selection.
Background
The WHO Technical Advisory Group for Leprosy (TAG-Leprosy) is the principal advisory group to the World Health Organization (WHO) for the elimination of leprosy. TAG-Leprosy has the mandate of advising WHO on overall global policies and strategies, ranging from epidemiology, monitoring implementation, patient care, research development to delivery of interventions and their linkages with other health interventions.
TAG-Leprosy will specifically advise the Regional Director of WHO-SEAR on the:
- Implementation of Global Leprosy Strategy 2021- 2030
- Major issues and challenges to be addressed with respect to achieving the goals of the Global Leprosy Strategy 2021-2030
- WHO's response to current public health priorities with regard to leprosy;
- Relevant leprosy control activities to be undertaken by WHO, NLPs and partners considering the comparative advantages and the respective roles of each;
- Inter-sectoral activities and initiatives related to the control of leprosy and strategies and linkages with other health interventions;
- Advise on laboratory diagnosis of leprosy infection, disease and anti-microbial resistance to drugs used in leprosy
- Research needs for leprosy;
- WHO's relations with partners in the control of leprosy;
- Role of WHO in promoting integration of leprosy interventions in national health systems.
- Social aspects of leprosy and inclusion of persons affected by leprosy
Functions of the Technical Advisory Group for Leprosy (TAG-Leprosy)
In its capacity as an advisory body to WHO, the TAG-Leprosy shall advise the Regional Director, WHO, SEAR on:
- Leprosy situation globally and particularly in high endemic countries and countries closer to the target of elimination to accelerate efforts to reduce disease burden;
- Implementation of Global Leprosy Strategy 2021- 2030: towards zero leprosy (2021);
- Strengthening national strategic plans to reach targets of interruption of transmission and elimination of leprosy;
- Issues and challenges influencing progress towards elimination of leprosy;
- Emerging evidence in management of leprosy to review and revise Guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of leprosy (2018) and define research agenda for leprosy;
- On coordination with partners and donors in accelerating efforts to elimination of leprosy;
- Actions to be taken to improve disability care, combat stigma/discrimination and ensure respect to human rights of ‘persons affected by leprosy’;
- Promoting integration of leprosy interventions in national health systems;
- Improving surveillance of anti-microbial resistance and adverse drug reactions in leprosy;
- Inter-sectoral activities and initiatives related to the control of leprosy to improve strategies and linkages with other health interventions.
See the Terms of reference.
Operations of the Technical Advisory Group for Leprosy (TAG-Leprosy)
- The TAG-Leprosy shall normally meet once a year. However, WHO may convene additional meetings. TAG-Leprosy meetings may be held in person at WHO/SEARO in New Delhi or another location, as determined by WHO) or virtually, via video or teleconference. TTAG-Leprosy meetings may include open and/or closed session, as decided by the Chairperson in consultation with WHO.
(a) Open sessions: Open sessions shall be convened for the sole purpose of the exchange of non-confidential information and views, and may be attended by Observers (as defined in paragraph III.3 below).
(b) Closed sessions: The sessions dealing with the formulation of recommendations and/or advice to WHO shall be restricted to the members of the TAG and essential WHO Secretariat staff. - The quorum for TAG-Leprosy meetings shall be two thirds of the members.
- WHO may, at its sole discretion, invite external individuals from time to time to attend the open sessions of TAG-Leprosy, or parts thereof, as “observers”. Observers may be invited either in their personal capacity, or as representatives from a governmental institution / intergovernmental organization, or from a non-state actor. WHO will request observers invited in their personal capacity to complete a confidentiality undertaking and a declaration of interests form prior to attending a session of the TAG-Leprosy. Invitations to observers attending as representatives from non-state actors will be subject to internal due diligence and conflict of interest considerations in accordance with FENSA. Observers invited as representatives may also be requested to complete a confidentiality undertaking. Observers shall normally attend meetings of the TAG-Leprosy at their own expense and be responsible for making all arrangements in that regard.
At the invitation of the Chairperson, observers may be asked to present their personal views and/or the policies of their organization. Observers will not participate in the process of adopting decisions and recommendations of the TAG-Leprosy. - The TAG-Leprosy may decide to establish smaller working groups (sub-groups of the AG) to work on specific issues. Their deliberations shall take place via teleconference or videoconference. For these sub-groups, no quorum requirement will apply; the outcome of their deliberations will be submitted to the AG for review at one of its meetings.
(a) The appointment as a member of the TAG-Leprosy may be terminated by WHO for any of the following reasons:
- a1. failure to attend two consecutive TAG-Leprosy meetings.
- a2. lack of professionalism involving, for example, a breach of confidentiality.
(b) Reports of each meeting shall be submitted by the TAG-Leprosy to WHO (the Regional Director, SEAR). All recommendations from the AG are advisory to WHO, who retains full control over any subsequent decisions or actions regarding any proposals, policy issues or other matters considered by the AG.
(c) The TAG-Leprosy shall normally make recommendations by consensus. If, in exceptional circumstances, a consensus on a particular issue cannot be reached, minority opinions will be reflected in the meeting report.
(d) [Active participation is expected from all TAG-Leprosy members, including in working groups, teleconferences, and interaction over email.] AG members may, in advance of TAG-Leprosy meetings, be requested to review meeting documentation and to provide their views for consideration by the TAG-Leprosy.
(e) WHO shall determine the modes of communication by the TAG-Leprosy, including between WHO and the TAG-Leprosy members, and the TAG-Leprosy members among themselves.
(f) TAG-Leprosy members shall not speak on behalf of, or represent, the TAG-Leprosy or WHO to any third party.
Who can express interest?
Members of TAG-Leprosy shall be experts from around the world in the fields of epidemiology, clinical leprosy, disability care, public health, infectious diseases, management, health-care administration, laboratory, social sciences and experience in combatting stigma. In the selection of the TAG-Leprosy members, consideration shall be given to attaining an adequate distribution of technical expertise, geographical representation and gender balance.
Submitting your expression of interest
To register your interest in being considered for the Technical Advisory Group for Leprosy (TAG-Leprosy), please submit the following documents by 15 August 2022, 23:59 CET to glp@who.int using the subject line “Expression of interest for the Technical Advisory Group for Leprosy (TAG-Leprosy)”:
- A completed application form;
- A cover letter (maximum 2 pages), 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 (CV) (maximum 5 pages); 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 advisory groups (AGs) 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 an AG 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 AG 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). AG 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 AG.
The selection of members of the AGs 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 AG 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 an AG 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 AG, disband an existing TAG or modify the work of the AG.
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 TAG-Leprosy page.
AG members will not be remunerated for their services in relation to the AG or otherwise. Travel and accommodation expenses of AG members to participate in AG 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 glp@who.int well before the applicable deadline.