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Qualifications

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1.       Area of expertise: An expert in POLIO FIELD EPIDEMIOLOGY.

2.       Purpose of consultancy:  The main role of the consultants to be deployed at the district level in Sierra Leone is to ensure that post-Polio response interventions and activities are implemented on time and of good quality and that polio surveillance is of sufficient quality as per the GPEI standards.

3.       Background  

The strategy for Polio eradication in Africa involves GPEI partners hiring consultants to provide technical support and assist with in-country capacity building for polio outbreak response, AFP surveillance and other polio special programs (e. g. e-Surveillance, Multi-Disease Monitoring tool) in African countries in collaboration with the Ministries of Health, WHO, UNICEF, CDC, and other PEI partners. These efforts will take place at the national, provincial, and district levels, as needed.

The cVDPV2 outbreak response activities are implemented by the Africa Rapid Response Team (RRT) and overseen by the RRT coordinator based at the WHO AFRO Regional office. Consultants working on surveillance specifically in non-outbreak countries as well as those working on special projects (e.g. e-Surv.) will be coordinated by relevant teams at the regional office.

While consultants supporting outbreak response in countries remain independent from the institution they were contracted from, they will all be under the responsibility of the country GPEI coordinator for Polio outbreak response and surveillance. Consultants will report to him/her through the accountability framework put in place in the country and at each provincial and district levels. 

4.       Deliverables

Activities may include the following:

Improving the quality of the Polio or other Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPDs) outbreak response

Preparation-Coordination-Supervision of the response

Sitting at the district public health authority premises and being a full-time member of the district immunization/VPDs (Polio) team

Participate in all VPDs outbreak response planning meetings

Enhance sensitivity and quality of Polio/other VPDs and AEFI to detect events.

SIAs planning, implementation, and monitoring for VPDs outbreak response

Provide information to the Polio/VPDs Provincial teams for the Risk assessment and the response scope definition

Actively follow up the Planning of SIAs using the official preparedness dashboard (including for HR and financial items)

Ensure that GIS and micro plans data are used at districts levels for the SIAs planning especially in high-risk populations, especially nomadic, displaced, and migrant populations at border crossings, marketplaces, IDP/refugee camps and the islands, and for estimation of target population and coverage.

Prepare high quality SIA High risk operational plans (HROP) and monitor implementation of these plans including through pre-implementation SIA dashboard.

Conduct the preparedness assessment at 3 weeks, 2 weeks, I week and 2-3 days to the campaign and institute corrective measures to address identified gaps

Supervise the implementation of campaigns and ensure Independent Monitoring and use of IM data for appropriate remedial action including revisits/refusals

Work closely with district teams to ensure micro plans are updated at team and sub-district levels at least 7 days before the campaign starts

Participate in all pre-campaign activities (training, microplanning, logistics) and regularly report to the District EOC on the implementation status

During the SIAs, daily monitoring of the vaccinator’s teams and team supervisors and conduct household surveys (in process monitoring)

Conduct daily review meetings at the district level to review administrative, monitoring, and vaccine management data, discuss challenges and propose solutions for subsequent days’ activities

Careful monitoring of vaccine vials distributed and retrieved; ensure reporting of any missing vials immediately to the provincial level

Analyze the SIAs quality data during the campaigns to propose immediate corrective actions (e.g. mop-up), ensuring proper documentation and follow-up of missed children are done.

Contribute to the consistent implementation of the SIAs monitoring tools

Review monitoring data (in-process, end-process, LQAS…) and propose corrective actions

Conduct post-campaign review meeting where investigation of LQAS failed lots should be discussed

Strengthening Polio Surveillance

AFP Surveillance

Provide support to ensure rapid AFP/other VPDs case investigations and distribution of report to district and national levels.

Conduct regular review of surveillance data (including from eSurv, ulti-Disease Tool, and NGOs…)

Provide feedback, supervision, mentorship, and training on surveillance to the health care centers staff.

Actively follow up that VPDs/AFP cases samples to ensure they are shipped to the provincial capital or National level respecting the time limits recommended by international standards.

Relating to eSURV, ensure that all priority reporting sites have been mapped/prioritized and are available to the Regional GIS Centre

Environmental surveillance (ES)

Regularly supervise and monitor activities of Environmental Sites within districts of assignment.

In case of expansion, ensure selection of sampling sites meets international requirements and verify that samples are taken on a regular basis respecting the processes

Ensure that the country is using the AFRO eData tools for site characterization, blue line collection, and specimen collection

Provide feedback to ES sample collectors and provide them with lab results

Routine Immunization

     Provide technical support and guidance to the District Health Management Teams (DHMTs) to plan, implement and monitor activities related to Immunization supply and cold chain management.

     Undertake field visits to health facilities for monitoring and supervision of project activities for improved immunization services, through capacity building of health facility staff. Prepare reports on the results of the field visits and progress.

     Support coordination, planning, implementation, supervision, and monitoring of new vaccine introduction and PIRIs.

5.       Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational Qualifications:  

·         Essential: A University Degree in public health or Health related field such as Community Health etc.

·         Desirable: A master’s degree in public health, training in epidemiology, implementation of SIAs (e.g. Polio NIDs, MR), training on AFP surveillance or AVADAR would be an advantage.

Experience  

·         Essential: Minimum 5 years of experience in EPI/PEI activities or similar roles in a government or non-governmental organization concerned with public health management

• Experience in AFP/Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPDs) Surveillance, immunization programs, and supplementary immunization campaign 
• Experience in new vaccines introduction and vaccination in health emergencies situation 
• Experience with WHO or other agencies in the United Nations system would be an asset.

Desirables:

·         Demonstrated knowledge of implementation of SIAs (e.g. Polio NIDs, MR), surveillance and outbreak response

• Ability to work as a team under tight deadlines and work in a multicultural environment. 

• Demonstrated experience of working in collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders.

Skills/Knowledge: 

Essential: Excellent knowledge of Microsoft applications (e. g. Excel, Word, Power Point, etc.) and knowledge of health data management packages like EPI INFO, etc., will be an added advantage.

Languages and level required (Basic/Intermediate/Expert):

Essential:

Expert knowledge of English

6.       Remuneration and budget (travel costs are excluded):

a.       Remuneration:  This role is an NOB Level

b.       Expected duration of contract:   Four (4) Months.