Issued on: 19 May 2026
Deadline: 02 June 2026
The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking experts to serve as members of the Regional Technical Advisory Group on dog-mediated human rabies (“the RTAG”), WHO South-East Asia Region. 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
Rabies is a fatal but preventable zoonotic disease responsible for an estimated 59,000 deaths globally each year. Most cases are transmitted through bites and scratches from infected dogs, and approximately 40% of deaths occur in children under 15 years of age. Eight of ten Member States in the WHO South-East Asia Region are endemic or at-risk for rabies, and more than 1.1 billion people in the Region remain exposed to the risk of infection. Approximately 45% of global rabies deaths occur in the Region.
In 2019, WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) jointly launched Zero by 30: the global strategic plan to end human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030. This target is included in WHO’s Global Neglected Tropical Diseases Roadmap 2030 and the Regional Strategic Framework for sustaining, accelerating and innovating to end neglected tropical diseases in the South-East Asia Region, 2024–2030.
The first Regional Technical Advisory Group (RTAG) on rabies for the WHO South-East Asia Region was established in 2022 for a three-year term, which expired on 31 August 2025. With less than five years remaining to the 2030 global target, WHO/SEARO is now reconstituting the RTAG to provide sustained, high-level technical guidance to Member States and accelerate progress in this final stretch towards zero human deaths from dog-mediated rabies. The RTAG will play a key role in reviewing the regional situation and progress on prevention, control and management of rabies and advising WHO on strategic directions, optimal strategies and policies for elimination of rabies as a public health problem in line with global strategies, including integrated approaches wherever feasible.
Functions of the RTAG
In its capacity as an advisory body to WHO, the RTAG shall have the following functions:
- To review the situation and epidemiology of rabies in the WHO South-East Asia Region, as well as the progress of national programmes for prevention, control and management of rabies towards eliminating human rabies deaths, periodically;
- To advise WHO on optimal strategies, activities and policies for prevention, control and management of rabies in the WHO Member States, including the use of appropriate and new tools and technologies and integrated approaches where feasible;
- To advise WHO on major gaps, issues and programme priorities that arise in the implementation of the recommended strategies and tactics in the Region;
- To advise WHO on the priority research agenda for accelerating prevention, control and management of rabies, including operational and implementation research;
- To advise WHO on innovative and sustainable mechanisms for improving advocacy and cross-border collaboration in prevention, control and management of rabies, including involvement of regional partnerships and donor agencies.
Operations of the RTAG
The RTAG will normally meet once a year, in person at WHO-SEARO in Delhi, India, or another location as determined by WHO, or virtually via video- or teleconference. WHO may convene additional meetings as required. Interim teleconferences and email exchanges may be required of members between meetings. The working language of the RTAG will be English. Members will be appointed for a three-year term (2026–2029) and shall be eligible for reappointment once for an additional three years.
Who can express interest?
The RTAG will be multidisciplinary, with members who have a range of technical knowledge, skills and experience relevant to the prevention, control and management of dog-mediated human rabies and the elimination of rabies as a public health problem. Approximately 15 members may be selected.
WHO welcomes expressions of interest from:
- Scientists, public health professionals, clinicians, veterinarians, laboratory specialists and programme managers with expertise in one or more of the following areas:
- Surveillance, epidemiology and biostatistics, including analytics and modelling;
- Risk assessment of rabies and other zoonotic diseases;
- Laboratory diagnosis of rabies, including genomics and serotyping;
- Clinical case management of rabies and post-exposure prophylaxis, including the use of rabies vaccines and rabies immunoglobulins/monoclonal antibodies;
- Social and behavioural science, risk communication and community engagement;
- Environmental health, dog ecology and dog population management;
- Mass dog vaccination and other integrated approaches, including Integrated Bite Case Management;
- One Health approach to rabies prevention, control and elimination;
- Health system strengthening and programme management for rabies prevention and control;
- Cross-border collaboration, advocacy and partnerships for rabies elimination.
Consideration will be given to attaining an adequate distribution of technical expertise, geographical representation across countries of the WHO South-East Asia Region and beyond, and gender balance.
Submitting your expression of interest
To register your interest in being considered for the RTAG on dog-mediated human rabies, please submit the following information by 02 June 2026 through the online application form available at: https://forms.gle/yFuX4QhfESoiuqxz7
The form will request the following information and documents:
- personal details, including nationality;
- professional background and expertise;
- a short statement within the form, indicating your most relevant contributions to rabies control, your motivation to apply and how you satisfy the selection criteria.
- your curriculum vitae (upload), and
- a signed and completed Declaration of Interests (DOI) form for WHO Experts (upload), 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.
For any questions about this Call for Experts, please write to Dr Aya Yajima (yajimaa@who.int) and Dr Katrin Bote (botek@who.int) well before the applicable deadline.
Please note that applications must be submitted exclusively through the online form above and will not be accepted by email.
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 a 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 a 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 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 yajimaa@who.int and botek@who.int well before the applicable deadline.