At a time of information overload when misinformation and disinformation abound, reliable evidence is more important than ever. An evidence-informed approach to healthcare is about making personal and professional decisions focused on the effective use of scarce resources, avoiding harm and maximising good.
The Cochrane SA Virtual National Symposium will explore the state of evidence in the post-truth/COVID-19 world - from primary research, clinical trial transparency, systematic reviews, evidence synthesis, guidelines development and policy implementation, all the way to public understanding of scientific evidence and individual decision-making.
This online event is for researchers, policymakers/ decision-makers, media, health science students, and community representatives in South Africa. Registration is free.
The call for abstracts is currently open and closes on 30 September 2022. More information: click here
Read moreOn 3 June 2022, Charani et al called on funders to take a more active role in tackling inequities in global health research in their article Funders: The missing link in equitable global health research? on PLOS Global Public Health. In a guest blog on PLOS GPH, Dr Pauline Beattie (EDCTP Operations Manager), Prof. Catherine Hankins (Chairperson of EDCTP’s Scientific Advisory Committee) and Dr Michael Makanga (EDCTP Executive Director) describe how EDCTP has been successfully supporting equitable European-African research collaborations to develop new and improved interventions against infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa for almost two decades. We invite you to read the blog, and to join the conversation on equity in global health research.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking experts to serve as members of the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Neglected Tropical Diseases. This “Call for Experts” notice provides information about the advisory group in question, the expert profiles being sought, the process to express interest, and the process of selection.
The Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Neglected Tropical Diseases (STAG-NTD) is the main advisory body to World Health Organization in this field.
NTDs are a diverse set of bacterial, viral, parasitic, fungal and noncommunicable diseases and disease groups that disproportionately affect populations living in poverty, predominantly in tropical and subtropical areas. Twenty diseases and disease groups are currently included in the NTD portfolio, and currently more than one billion people are affected.
STAG-NTD advises and makes policy and strategic recommendations to WHO, based on independent reviews of progress made and challenges faced by programmes and partners, with the aim of facilitating the achievement of the targets and milestones set by the NTD road map 2021–2030.
In its capacity as an advisory body to WHO, the STAG-NTD shall have the following functions:
The STAG-NTD will normally meet in person once a year at WHO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, usually for 2-3 days. Depending on the issues at stake, additional interim meetings may be organized in the course of the year. The working language of the STAG-NTD will be English.
The STAG-NTD will be multidisciplinary, with members having a range of technical knowledge, skills and experience relevant to NTDs and of the challenges faced by programmes and partners within the context of health systems in NTD-endemic countries. Up to approximately 20 members may be selected.
WHO welcomes expressions of interest from individuals with knowledge, skills and experience in:
To register your interest in being considered for the [name of the advisory group], please submit the following documents by 24:00h (midnight) Geneva time on 16 July 2022 to aimel@who.int using the subject line “Expression of interest for the STAG-NTD”.
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.
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 AG 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 AG 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 internet.
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 aimel@who.int well before the applicable deadline.