VN038 National consultant to support the introduction of WHO’s strategic framework of the Reaching the Unreached (RTU) and Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) model in Viet Nam.

Background

Reaching the un-reached population has been identified as one of four priority thematic areas and is well presented in the Regional strategic programmatic paper “For the Future”. Unreached population is defined as the people who have less access to effective, quality health improving actions and services and poorer health outcomes than is possible within their country. This focus is not just limited to populations who lack access to health improving actions or services. It also includes populations who may have access, but the services available are insufficient nor responsive for their need and/or lacks the quality necessary to equalize outcomes with the better off in a country (UNDSG 2019).

Moreover, reaching the un-reached is regarded as a cross-cutting theme across the other priorities (health security; NCD and ageing; and climate change), and require a whole of Government and whole of health system approach. VN country office plan to step up with more activities, in conjunction with the Government, in identifying un-reached groups, understanding their specific needs, and unpacking the systemic and service delivery issues that hinder their access to needed services, and come up with a workable strategic approach to eliminating the gaps.

In conjunction with the work in reaching the un-reached, and in the context of rapid population aging in Vietnam, older people are regarded vulnerable and have their health needs currently not met by the existing service delivery system. Beside disease and health conditions like any other age groups, older people face age-related functional declines which seriously affect their well-being while the current service delivery system is not yet ready to provide. To address their specific needs, WHO has developed guidelines on integrated care for older people (ICOPE) which then has been introduced, via series of training for district and commune medical staff in several provinces in Vietnam, by the country office. ICOPE model can serve as an example on how to address specific needs of an un-reach population group. The country office plans to pilot this new care model and gain more practical experiences before this model can be adopted and administered by health system. The lessons learnt from ICOPE model can feed into strategic framework on service delivery reform to reach other un-reached population.

The purpose of this consultancy is to support the country office in moving the work in the above areas.

Address for applications:

Administrative Officer

World Health Organization

UN Building, 304 Kim Ma Street, Hanoi, Viet Nam

Or by email at: wpvnmapplicants@who.int

Note: applicants should indicate vacancy notice number and title of position in the email subject