Purpose of the Consultancy

The consultant, as part of the Health Information Systems team at the WHO Country Office in Lao PDR, will provide technical support to the Ministry of Health (Moin strengthening health system resilience to climaterelated risks and advancing digital health initiatives. This role involves automating the integration of climate data into the District Health Information Software (dhis2)based national Health Management Information System (HMIto enhance climatesensitive disease forecasting and enhancing health workers’ ability to effectively use this data for planning and response. Additionally, the consultant will support the digital transformation of the health sector by implementing the Lao PDR Digital Health Strategy 20232027, aimed at scaling up sustainable digital health technologies and solutions to improve overall health system responsiveness and resilience.

Background

Lao PDR is highly vulnerable to climate change and health system and people of Lao PDR are vulnerable to the health impacts of climate change. Ministry of Health (Mobuilding institutional technical capacity to assess effects of climate change on health and forecast climatesensitive diseases, ahead of preparing for climate resilient responses at national, subnational and community levels. As a part of this approach, WHO is supporting the MOH in integrating climate data into the HMIS to enhance the health system’s capacity to predict and effectively respond to climaterelated risks to health. Additionally, the WHO Country Office in Lao PDR is supporting the MoH in implementing the country’s first Digital Health Strategy (DH20232027, launched in January This strategy aligns with global trends in healthcare digitalization and aims to enhance healthcare delivery by focusing on five strategic priorities: governance, workforce, infrastructure, standards, and applications.

Work to be performed

Under the direct guidance of Technical Officer, Health Information Systems at the WHO Country Office in Lao PDR, the consultant will provide incountry technical support to enhance the health system’s capacity to manage climaterelated. Additionally, WHO is supporting the MoH in implementing the Lao PDR Digital Health Strategy (DH2023

The consultant will work in following areas of WHO’s support for the government of Lao PDR:

1. Strengthening health information system for datainformed policy decisions and actions to enhance the resilience of the health systems in preparation for climaterelated risks
2. Facilitating the implementation of Lao PDR Digital Health Strategy 20232027
3. Accelerating the scaling up and sustainability of digital health technologies and solutions
4. Strengthening Civil Registration and Vital Statistics systems of Lao PDR

The consultant will be expected to contribute to the achievement of the following outputs

Output 1: Develop capacity building programs on climateinformed early warning system
Deliverable 1: Design and deliver targeted training programs for healthcare workers and other stakeholders on utilizing integrated data for effective planning and responding to climaterelated health risks in collaboration with the training team.
Deliverable 2: Preparation of reports, slide decks, information products, and at least one manuscript on climateinformed early warning systems.

Output 2: Support to monitor the implementation of Digital Health Strategy 20232027 (DH
Deliverable 1: Support Digital Health Transformation Coordination Office (DHCof the MOH to monitor the progress of the DHS implementation. This includes preparing quarterly reports and organizing quarterly meetings of the Technical Working Group.
Deliverable 2: Develop standards and frameworks, and workflows for key national registries, including the client registry, health facility registry, and healthcare worker registry.
Deliverable 3: Conduct a landscape analysis of existing digital health interventions in Lao PDR

Output 3: Build capacity in ICD10/11 coding, MCCOD, anddhis2 tracker programmes
Deliverable 1: Organize capacity building workshops on ICD10/11coding and medical certification of cause of death (MCCO
Deliverable 2: Design and deliver targeted training programs on the inpatient tracker, and MCCOD tracker. This include developing video tutorials to be used for selflearning.

Output 4: Support any other activities assigned by the supervisor

The hired consultant will be expected to submit monthly reports including all the proposed deliverables above.

Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Education qualifications:

Essential: University degree in the fields of digital health, health information management, or in a related field from a recognized tertiary institution.
Desirable: Postgraduate qualification in any of the aforementioned areas.

Experience:

Essential: Minimum five years’ experience working supporting countries to develop and implement digital technologies for health.
Experience in managing and coordinating digital health projects.
Experience in supporting ministries of health in implementing digital health action plans/strategies.
Experience conducting digital health capacity building and training.
Desirable: Extensive experience in health information systems, particularly in integrating climate data. Work experience in developing countries in the AsiaPacific Region

Skills/Knowledge:

Essential: Experience in managing and coordinating digital health or climate data projects within a public health context, knowledge and experience in dhis2 implementation, software development as well as data analysis and report writing.
Desirable: Knowledge on OpenHIE, FHIR and other health interoperability standards. FHIR certification would be an asset.

Languages and level required

Expert knowledge of spoken and written English is essential.

Location

The consultant will be based in Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR with potentially having to undertake duty travel to provinces.

Travel

The consultant is expected to travel to Lao PDR and provide onsite support and due to the nature of support, teleworking will not be possible. Local travel within the country, where needed, will be arranged by WCO.

Remuneration and budget

Remuneration: Payband level AUSD 5,000 to USD 5,500 (monthl
Expected duration of contract: 11 months, October 2024 to September 2025

Additional Information :

•    This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
•    Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
•    A written test may be used as a form of screening.
•    If your candidature is retained for interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(/diploma(/certificate(required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHE, a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IA/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESC. The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
•    For information on WHO’s operations please visit: http://www.who.int.
•    The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The WHO recruits workforce regardless of disability status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, race, marital status, religious, cultural, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, or any other personal characteristics.
The WHO is committed to achieving gender parity and geographical diversity in its workforce. Women, persons with disabilities, and nationals of unrepresented and underrepresented Member States (https://www.who.int/careers/diversityequityandinclusion) are strongly encouraged to apply for WHO jobs.
Persons with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations to enable participation in the recruitment process. Requests for reasonable accommodation should be sent through an email to  reasonableaccommodation@who.int
•    An impeccable record for integrity and professional ethical standards is essential. WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter (https://www.who.int/about/whoweare/ourvalues) into practice.
•    WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SE, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassmen. All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of shortlisted candidates.
•    WHO has a smokefree environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
•    Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority.
•    WHO shall have no responsibility for any taxes, duties, social security contributions or other contributions payable by the Consultant. The Consultant shall be solely responsible for withholding and paying any taxes, duties, social security contributions and any other contributions which are applicable to the Consultant in each location/jurisdiction in which the work hereunder is performed, and the Consultant shall not be entitled to any reimbursement thereof by WHO.
•    Please note that WHO’s contracts are conditional on members of the workforce confirming that they are vaccinated as required by WHO before undertaking a WHO assignment, except where a medical condition does not allow such vaccination, as certified by the WHO Staff Health and Wellbeing Services (SH. The successful candidate will be asked to provide relevant evidence related to this condition. A copy of the updated vaccination card must be shared with WHO medical service in the medical clearance process. Please note that certain countries require proof of specific vaccinations for entry or exit. For example, official proof /certification of yellow fever vaccination is required to enter many countries. Countryspecific vaccine recommendations can be found on the WHO international travel and Staff Health and Wellbeing website. For vaccinationrelated queries please directly contact SHW directly at shws@who.int.
•    In case the recruitment website does not display properly, please retry by: (checking that you have the latest version of the browser installed (Chrome, Edge or Firefo; (iclearing your browser history and opening the site in a new browser (not a new tab within the same browse; or (iiretry accessing the website using Mozilla Firefox browser or using another device. Click the link for detailed guidance on completing job applications: Instructions for candidates.