Technical experts Universal Health Coverage, and to manage health emergencies as they arise, and promoting overall health and wellbeing of the people of Sierra Leone.

Purpose of consultancy : 

The consultant would provide technical support to the WHO in Sierra Leone, specifically, Universal Health Coverage Life Course, Universal Health Coverage for Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases, and, Emergency Preparedness and Response clusters in laboratory and diagnosticrelated areas. Through this, the consultant would provide technical support to the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health to support AMR containment strategies with a focus on laboratory systems strengthening.

The consultant will play a key role in enhancing bacteriology laboratory capacities in key healthcare facilities, providing technical expertise in microbial identification, antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AS, capacity building for laboratory personnel, systems for AMR data collection, collation, transmission, quality assurance and ensuring adherence to international quality standards.

The consultant would also play a key role in improving data generation and analysis for AMR surveillance, to ensure readily available data to inform policy decisionmaking. The position requires a highly skilled bacteriologist with experience in lowresource settings to ensure the success of the Fleming Fund Project in Sierra Leone.

<![if !supportLists]>       <![endif]>Background  

The growing burden of antimicrobial resistance (AM, poses significant threats to public health in Sierra Leone. The Fleming Fund, an initiative aimed at addressing AMR globally, is supporting efforts in the country to strengthen laboratory systems, improve disease surveillance, and enhance antimicrobial stewardship.

The World Health Organization (WHprovides technical assistance to the Ministry of Health (MOin Sierra Leone on various health initiatives including the fight against AMR in a ‘One Health’ approach. WHO also collaborates with various ‘one health’ partners from nonhuman sectors to ensure that the health system is able to respond to health needs while supporting such objectives as food security and environmental safety in other sectors.

WHO is collaborating with the Fleming Fund (Fto fight AMR through strategic initiatives designed to strengthen systems for health. Through focused efforts and catalytic investments, these multipartner collaborations have contributed to significantly reduce disease burden since

To effectively implement these objectives, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, in collaboration with partners, seeks to hire a laboratory consultant bacteriologist.

<![if !supportLists]>       <![endif]>Deliverables: 

The incumbent will act as the expert for the health laboratory and will be responsible for developing and sustaining laboratory technical capacity, strengthening laboratory systems, and contributing to capacity building for the laboratory workforce. She/he will provide technical leadership and management of the Fleming Fundsupported AMR surveillance project in Sierra Leone. She/he will establish and maintain collaborative networks with donors, national and international organizations, governmental and nongovernmental institutions, and professional and scientific societies, and liaise with other units/teams at the country office.

           Inception Report on how the objectives of the Consultancy would be achieved.

           Comprehensive reports on bacteriology laboratory assessments with actionable improvement plans. This includes reports on implemented quality assurance programs and updated SOPs for microbial identification and AST, aligned with international standards.

           Reports on the development and delivery of training modules for bacteriology diagnostics and AMR data management. Completion of training workshops and posttraining evaluation reports with mentorship plans.

           Technical reports on AMR containment strategy implementation, integrated with the national action plan. This includes reports on established or strengthened laboratory systems for efficient AMR surveillance and reporting.

           Reports on strengthened lab diagnostic capacity for communicable and noncommunicable diseases. This includes compliance assessment reports on adherence to international diagnostic and biosafety standards.

           Monthly and final reports on AMR data trends with policy recommendations. This covers the establishment and operations of functional AMR data collection and transmission systems across key healthcare facilities.

           Updated biosafety protocols with implementation and continuous improvement plans.

The specific terms of reference for the position include the following: 

           Provide technical guidance and leadership in managing Fleming Fund country grant for human health to combat Antimicrobial Resistance (AMin Sierra Leone.

           Ensure coordination of all partners involved in AMR activities, including regional and strategic alignment grantees.

         Provide technical guidance in the establishment of bacteriology laboratories for AMR surveillance.

         Conduct a baseline assessment of the bacteriology laboratories and AMR surveillance sites as part of quality audits in collaboration with the Ministry of Health

         Based on quality audit reports, develop a quality improvement plan and institute corrective actions for nonconformities, in collaboration with the MoHS laboratory quality team.

         Provide onsite comprehensive capacity building at the established bacteriology laboratories in Sierra Leone, focusing on improving skills in specimen collection, microscopy, culture, and antibiotic susceptibility testing (ASaccording to EUCAST standards, quality management systems, and data management.

         Provide technical guidance at bench level, training on technical procedures, coaching, and mentoring of bacteriology laboratory staff.

         Draft, review and validate standardized training materials, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP, and bench aids for an intensive short course in microbiology techniques for laboratory staff.

         Develop and strengthen all elements of quality management systems to ensure the accuracy and reliability of all results and support the enrolment of selected laboratories in a stepwise quality improvement process towards accreditation.

         Strengthen the biosafety and waste management system for the clinical and public health laboratories.

         Develop systems for AMR surveillance, data collection, analysis, and reporting to GLASS.

         To diagnose outbreakprone diseases, provide technical support to the Central Public Health Reference Laboratories (CPHRto perform laboratory diagnosis of disease pathogens using available diagnostic platforms including realtime and conventional PCR techniques, viral culture, and ELISAs viral genomic sequencing.

         Guide in establishing and operationalizing genomic sequencing laboratory at the CPHRL.

         Contribute to the establishment and functionality of laboratory networks to diagnose outbreakprone diseases in the country.

         Provide technical support to laboratories to analyze the laboratory data for monitoring disease trends, vaccine impact/effectiveness, and rapidly detect pathogens to guide and rapid response for viral pathogen outbreaks.

         Provide technical guidance and support related to laboratory matters and antimicrobial resistance, including training and continuing education of laboratory personnel, laboratory commodity supply and distribution, maintenance of laboratory equipment, laboratory quality assurance, laboratory safety, and legal and regulatory issues.

         Perform any other tasks assigned by the supervisor/WHO country representative.

Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational Qualifications:  

Essential: Master’s degree in biological sciences – medical laboratory technology, microbiology, biochemistry, zoology, or similar.

Master of Science degree in medical microbiology, infectious diseases, molecular medicine, medical virology, and/or relevant related field..

Desirable:

Postgraduate degree (master’s level or abovin medical laboratory sciences or related field or a senior expert with not less than 7 years of extensive broadbased experience working in AMR, bacteriology laboratory systems, public health, epidemiology, medical statistics and health systems..

Experience:

Essential:

•            At least 7 years of experience with public health or research laboratory

•            Knowledge of bacterial/viral disease surveillance design and monitoring and evaluation.

•            Knowledge in Public health /research data analysis

•            Experience in planning and organizing surveillance program for viral diseases.

•            Previous work experience with WHO, other UN agencies, NGOs is an advantage

Skills/Knowledge:

Essential:

Technical skills and experience in monitoring and evaluating public health laboratories – with focus on bacteriology laboratories. 

             Laboratory skills in performing virus culture, Realtime and conventional PCR techniques, gel electrophoresis/documentation, Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent assays (ELISAetc for the diagnosis of diseases of bacterial and viral origin. 

             Knowledge and intermediate expertise in performing bioinformatic analysis of genomic data for selected viral pathogens.

             Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to create team spirit; promote collaboration and foster open communication.

             Knowledge of current WHO recommendations for laboratory diagnosis of outbreakprone diseases of public health importance. 

Languages and level required (Basic/Intermediate/Exper:

Essential:          Working proficiency in English (written, presentation and verbal communication skill