Commercial Determinants of Health and Mental Health Officer

WHO FJI organization mission TBD

This UNV assignment is part of WHO’s regional work on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health. NCDs—including cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes—are the leading causes of death globally, accounting for 75% of deaths in the WHO Western Pacific Region. Many of these are premature and preventable through early interventions targeting key risk factors like unhealthy diet, alcohol and tobacco use.On the other hand, Mental health is an integral part of health and well-being. Mental health conditions exact a high toll, accounting for 13% of the total global burden of disease in the year 2004. Depression alone accounts for 4.3% of the global burden of disease and is among the largest single causes of disability worldwide (11% of all years lived with disability globally).NCDs and mental health conditions are often interconnected in multiple aspects, and as such require common services and resource mobilization efforts.
There is unequivocal evidence that the marketing of unhealthy foods and sugar-sweetened beverages is related to childhood obesity and any attempt to tackle childhood obesity should, therefore, include a reduction in exposure of children to, and the power of, marketing. Marketing of unhealthy products to children is therefore a significant concern to health professionals, governments and parents; such products include alcoholic drinks, foods high in salt, fat and sugar, and tobacco, including new products such as electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and other types of electronic nicotine delivery system. Despite existing political commitments and policies, the latest evidence shows that children and adolescents are still regularly exposed to digital marketing of many unhealthy products. As time spent online shifts increasingly to social media and mobile devices, where personalized and targeted advertising predominates, the situation is likely to deteriorate. Childhood obesity and marketing of unhealthy products are among the main concerns – digital marketing of these products is a new, global public health challenge that needs to be urgently tackled.
There are available tools and protocols to manually monitor the marketing exposure of marketing of unhealthy products outside. This data can be impactful for advocating for string marketing regulations protecting children from harmful marketing exposure.
Mental health has long been a major public health issue in the Pacific. Despite limited data, available evidence suggests a significant prevalence of mental disorders in PICs. In 2021 alone, more than 1.5 million people in the Pacific were affected by mental disorders, while over 200,000 experienced substance use disorders. Additionally, PICTs report some of the highest suicide rates in the Western Pacific region, underscoring the ongoing mental health crisis in the Pacific. However, significant challenges—such as stigma surrounding mental disorders, limited workforce capacity, weak
information systems, and inadequate policies and legislation—are pervasive in the Pacific. Addressing the challenges in PICs requires a comprehensive, multisectoral approach, with coordinated efforts between the health and social sectors at the national level and enhanced collaboration at the regional level.
The WHO Pacific Islands Mental Health Network (PIMHnet) is a joint initiative of the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific and the WHO Headquarters in Geneva, officially launched in 2007.

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the team coordinator in the unit of Pacific Non-communicable diseases and Health through life course or his/her designated mandated representative(s), the UN Volunteer Emma Salmon will:
• Map the most popular social media platform form children from 6 – 18 years clustered by age
• Gather information on online and social media use of children and adolescents (time spent online, most used online platform, apps, TV programs, most popular influencer)
• Adapting and where needed translating the WHO provided study protocol to local context,
• Mapp all available/published studies on marketing exposure to children in Region
• Monitor and map exposure to digital marketing experienced (based on countries needs
traditional or non-traditional marketing)
• Write a report based on the results
• Mapp sponsoring contracts between (children) sports clubs and High in Fat, Sugar and Salt (HFSS) food companies/products, alcohol and tobacco companies
• Mapp all available CoI tools in the Region – especially used in Ministries and national public health institutes
• Document available meeting records between industry and the Ministry of Health (MoH)
Under the guidance of the coordinator and technical officer at Pacific Noncommunicable Diseases and Health through the Life-Course Unit (PNH), in collaboration with colleagues at
WPRO (World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific) and Headquarters, perform Mental Health related work, as follows:
• Assist in organizing and implementing regular PIMHnet(Pacific Islands Mental Health Network) activities
• Facilitate information exchange among PIMHnet members, WHO, and other partners.
• Maintain an up-to-date PIMHnet membership list.
• Prepare technical documents related to PIMHnet.
• Support additional projects within the PIMHnet framework.
Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities:
• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
• Provide annual and end of assignment self- reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities.
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.;
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers;
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.

Results/expected outputs
As an active WHO team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client-friendly and high-quality support rendered to WHO and its beneficiaries in the accomplishment of her/his functions, including:
Results/Outputs can be modified as appropriate; should not entirely mirror the task description but serve as a basis for workplan and deliverables]
o Produce high quality reports on findings based on task description
o Support team with development of background documents
o Support team with accomplishing daily tasks and country requests
o Work interdependently under supervision of technical staff

• Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and
documented in all activities throughout the assignment
• A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for peace and development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed