Develop website for the Sub-regional Regulatory Platform for medical product in the Pacific Island Countries

Item Description:

The World Health Organization (WHO) was established in 1948 as a specialized agency of the United Nations. The objective of WHO (www.who.int) is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health. “Health”, as defined in the WHO Constitution, is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. WHO’s main function is to act as the directing and coordinating authority on international health work.

The Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) is one of the six regions of the World Health Organization. Headquartered in Manila, Philippines, we work with health authorities and other partners in 37 countries and areas with more than one quarter of the world’s population.

BACKGROUND

The Pacific Island Countries and areas (PICs) committed to the establishment of a sub-regional regulatory platform for medical products in 2019 The subregional platform aims to strengthen the regulation of medical products in the PICs and will serve as a mechanism for cooperation in pharmaceutical regulation among PICs.The platform will also serve as a mechanism for information sharing and capacity development.

The sub-regional platform will initially sit at the WHO Division of Pacific Support in Fiji and will operate through online IT tools such as a website that will serve as the channel of communication between countries, WHO and other partners. The website will be fundamental to deliver the regulatory functionalities of the Sub Regional Platform at a later stage.

The work of the contractor will be focused on programming and web design services to develop a user-friendly design, attractive website, adapted to current trends in web design, that will enable timely exchange of public and confidential information among PICs and other stakeholders by:

• serving as a regional database containing essential medicines information from PICs such as: Essential Medicines List, Standard Treatment Guidelines and the most updated Legislation and Regulations related to medical products;
• providing updated information of registered medical products in PICs, including manufacturing information and regulatory status;
• Sharing information about quality testing of medical products and adverse drug reactions (ADRs) reports in the PICs;
• Serving as a channel of any regulatory updates including medicines recall, substandard and falsified product and other information

At a later stage, and following the overall development and diversification of functionalities of the subregional platform, the website could be developed in order to include additional functions:

• facilitate online submissions of marketing authorization applications of medical products to Pacific Island Countries;
• facilitate submission and serve as a database for Pharmacovigilance and Quality Defects reports to ensure reporting to the WHO Programme for International Drug Monitoring at Uppsala Monitoring Center (UMC) and to the WHO Global Surveillance and Monitoring System.

As the scope and governance of the platform may evolve in the future, the contractor shall make sure the website is integrable and can be continuously upgraded in order to adapt to new functional requirements.

PURPOSE/SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THE ACTIVITY

To develop a website for the Sub-regional Regulatory Platform for medical product in the Pacific Island Countries.

DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES TO BE CARRIED OUT

Output 1: Web designing, sitemap and wireframe creation 

The IT partner is expected to deliver an attractive graphic layout and appealing web design that allows regular revisions and improvements on look and features.

Deliverable 1.1: proposed website design concept in power point presentation (2 options)

Output 2: Website development, production and layout 

Deliverable 2.1: Domain for the website which should be secured through SSL Certificate. Security settings to be set at the highest possible level.

Deliverable 2.2: Website link containing the following features (but not limited to these):

• Compatible with the assistive technology and low bandwidth
• Responsive solution that scales for different screen resolutions and devices, including tablets and smartphones.
• Workable at minimum on the following browsers: Chrome 69, Safari 10, Firefox 52, Internet Explorer 7.0
• Provision for users to sign in and admin to create log in credentials for users to maintain security.
• Provision for user to upload, download and organize documents (large size: word files, excel files, videos, photos and podcast upload). Automatic notification to website admin(s) after uploading who can then decide to publish the submitted content on website or not.
• All aspects and areas of the website should be searchable and should have filtering options where relevant. “Search” function could be done by type of publication/guidance, type of resource, project, country and issue with specific criteria.
• Consistent visual language, consistency in fonts, formatting, icons, images, layout techniques throughout the site.
• Date and time stamp should be available for all postings.
• Option to post and organize announcement of activities and upcoming events in a period of time.
• Enable data backup feature.
• Provision for eLearning. This feature will be developed as the project progress once training content will be available.  The major function to be included for the meantime, is uploading of presentations and videos.
• Provision for application of marketing authorization or registration of medical products. This feature will be developed as the project progress, for the meantime, the function will be upload for large size and highly confidential documents in a secured document.
• Content Management System (CMS): Integration with a Content Management System (CMS) – preferable WordPress or Drupal or Joomla – based on the best user-friendly tools. The backend also needs to be user-friendly. Considering that the website will also host an online-learning platform LMS plugins might be required.
• Ensure the search engine optimization will include but not limited to: • Keyword research & analysis • Site analysis • Competitive analysis • Site content optimization • HTML code optimization • Search Engine submission.
• Allow any additional feature deemed necessary during the analysis of platform structure, function details as identified by the technical unit.

Output 3: Develop user manual and migration (20 days)

Deliverable 3.1: User guide (videos and report) and train the technical staffs and pacific countries regarding its use.

Deliverable 3.2 Hand over raw data and all relevant information from back end to front end.

METHODS TO CARRY OUT THE ACTIVITY

The work will involve software development and computer programming to develop necessary IT features for the website.  The contractual partner will work under the supervision of the Technical Officer in charge at Pacific Health Systems & Policy (PHS) unit who will provide technical guidance and overall management for the project. The contractor may be required to communicate with Countries via online TC systems.

The IT partner will be responsible for regular technical maintenance and quality check of the sites for at least one year to ensure working order as well as troubleshoot any issues that may arise.

It is the responsibility of contractor to partner with a graphic designer and other IT experts as a service package to enhance the usability and feature of the website, including the domain, that will be owned by WHO. The price of the domain should be included in the quotation. After the project is finalized, the contractor should turn over raw data to WHO.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

EDUCATION

Essential: Degree on computer science, computer engineering, or other information technology related degree

Desirable: Degree or course on health-related information systems

EXPERIENCE

Essential: Minimum 5 years of experience in web development and programming. Proven experience in web design, production or development creating compelling online content for major institutions.

Desirable: Previous experience in web development for medicine related websites and previous working experience with WHO, other international organizations and/or major institutions in the field of health and international development is desirable.

TECHNICAL SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE

• Demonstrated experience in working on medium to large web projects in excess of 300 pages
• Substantial experience in developing CMS (Headless or traditional CMS)
• Skills to plan, analyse, design, develop, test, and maintain new and existing computer applications and services.
• Ability to work independently and in close collaboration with WHO
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Attention to detail

LANGUAGES

• Fluent in English (writing, reading and speaking)

COMPETENCIES

• Communication
• Teamwork
• Technical expertise
• Knowing and managing yourself
• Producing results

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Duration of contract: August 2021 – December 2021

Home-based. The work will mostly be done remotely, via virtual meetings.

The selected applicant may also be required to travel to Suva, Fiji, for short missions, mostly training.

APPLICATIONS

Qualified and interested specialists should submit their CV {for individual contractors} or Company Profile {for institutional applications} and Expression of Interest {cover letter} to the Supply Officer through WP RO UNGM at < wproungm@who.int > by 25 August 2021.

The cover letter should outline how their experience and qualifications make them a suitable candidate for this position and should include their proposed daily consultancy fee and availability.

Please use Tender Notice No. 138501 as subject to all submission. Only successful candidates will be contacted.

Contacts

Thu Ha Le – wproungm@who.int
Email: wproungm@who.int
First name: Thu Ha
Surname: Le