Consultant IDSR and Epidemiology Strengthening, Band level B - Nairobi

Area of expertise

IDSR and Epidemiology Strengthening

Purpose of consultancy

The primary objective of this position is to coordinate the strengthening of disease surveillance and epidemiology in countries by scaling up Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) and the International Health regulations (IHR) for timely, detection, reporting and response to public health events.

Background

The mission of WHO’s Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) Programme (WHE) is to build the capacity of Member States to manage health emergency risks and, when national capacities are overwhelmed, to lead and coordinate the international health response to contain outbreaks and to provide effective relief and recovery to affected populations. The Health Emergency Information and Risk Assessment (HIR) Programme area of the EPR focuses on three major streams of work: i) enhancing public health intelligence for early detection and risk assessment of health events; ii) strengthening public health surveillance and epidemiology based on the IDSR framework; and iii) modernizing information management systems and data analytics. The WHO in the African Region has been implementing the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) strategy for the past two decades as a platform for public health surveillance. The IDSR framework achieved major milestones over the years, with huge surveillance infrastructure established in 45 Member States in the African region. None-the-less, implementation of IDSR also encountered several challenges. These gaps became apparent during the Covid-19 pandemic when IDSR structures and systems were overwhelmed, with no capability to adapt. In the bid to strengthen public health surveillance in the African region, WHO AFRO developed the Transforming African Surveillance Systems (TASS) Flagship Initiative to consolidate progress and address gaps in IDSR implementation in all Member States in the region. The TASS project will focus on fully implementing the IDSR strategy including leveraging new technologies to reduce the time to identify and control public health threats.

Deliverables

Under the general supervision of the Regional Emergency Director and the direct supervision of the HIR Program Area Manager, the IDSR Epidemiology and Strengthening Consultancy will work to strengthen the technical capacity of Member States for the implementation of IDSR and epidemiological surveillance. This position involves working in close collaboration with the WHE Programme, WHO HQ, Regional and Country Offices and with a broad range of partners, to provide technical expertise and promote information-sharing. The incumbent builds interactions with a broad range of external partners, UN and UN Agencies, national and international institutions to exchange findings and promote information sharing, experience and lessons learnt. Within the framework of the delegated authority, the incumbent is assigned all or part of the following duties which are performed according to the needs and agenda:

• Coordinate the scaling up of the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response through assessment, capacity building, as well as deployment/implementation of electronic data tools.
• Contribute to the strengthening data collection, analysis, interpretation and reporting in Member States.
• Conduct regular analysis of priority diseases to understand the epidemiology and burden of infectious diseases in the region.
• Disease specific in-depth data analysis and hotspot analysis and mapping, space-time analysis (e.g. cholera, yellow fewer, etc.) based on patterns.
• Collaborate with and provide strategic coordination to Member States across the region to develop and implement disease surveillance and response plans of action and to monitor progress and level of implementation.
• Lead and participate with WHO, Member States and relevant stakeholders to conduct comprehensive assessments of IHR core capacities and gaps to identify countries and sub-regions with the greatest need for improvement, and to establish or reinforce coordination mechanisms for streamlining implementation of IHR, and to initiate support for building targeted improvements in IHR core capacities in priority countries.
• Contribute to the enhancement of international and national capacities for investigation and risk assessment of public health hazards through the development and implementation of standards and tools.
• Conduct field investigation for outbreak verification, risk assessment and provide technical support for rapid public health response to public health emergencies emanating from known or unknown disease pathogens.
• Liaises with and utilizes partnerships in other UN Agencies, Donor, or research institutions in the surveillance and field epidemiology to position the technical area of work and implementation into Global, Regional and/or National policies.
• Perform other related duties as assigned, including replacing and back stopping for others as required.

Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational Qualifications

Essential

An advance university degree in Epidemiology, Public Health or related field from an accredited/recognized institute.

Desirable

• PhD in Public Health Informatics or Epidemiology
• Specialized training in infectious disease epidemiology and outbreak response.
• Online IDSR Course Certificate

Experience

Essential

• A minimum of 7 years' experience in disease surveillance, prevention and control, with at least 3 years practical experience in disease prevention and control programs at subnational and national level.
• Proven experience and knowledge of implementing IDSR at country level.
• Practical working use of advanced statistical software packages (e.g., R, STATA, SAS) for epidemiological analysis during emergencies will be an asset.

Desirable

• Working experience on emergencies in Africa.
• Experience in conducting disease surveillance, prevention and control in humanitarian settings.
• Experience of working with WHO or other UN agencies would be an asset.
• Experience in WHO and/or the UN System in the areas of outbreak preparedness and response; field experience in public health programmes or emergency response programmes in developing countries.
• Experience in routine analysis and reporting of time-sensitive public health data. Good understanding of the IDSR strategy and its implementation is an asset.
• Field experience in epidemiology, surveillance and/or control of acute public health events experience in resource limited countries; experience of working with event-based surveillance; good understanding in inter-agency collaboration or in WHO, UN, UN Agencies or other international organizations.
• In-service training in field epidemiology such as Field Epidemiology (and Laboratory) Training Programmes (FELTP), the European Program for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET), the CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service programme, or equivalent experience.

Skills/Knowledge

• Sound strategic and tactical thinking with ability to formulate clear comprehensive policies, strategies and plans.
• Superior organizational skills with ability to multi-task and produce results under pressure.
• Excellent interpersonal with proven ability to communicate in a clear and effective way, with tact, diplomacy and courtesy.
• Authoritative and comprehensive knowledge of the theory, principles, methods and techniques in international emergency risk management and humanitarian response, with a broad-based understanding of its growing complexity including knowledge of the workings of relevant international policy-setting bodies.

Languages and level required

Essential

• Expert knowledge of English or French with working level of the other language.
• Working knowledge of another WHO official language would be an asset.

Location

On site: Nairobi, Kenya

Travel

The Consultant is expected to travel in Nairobi.

Remuneration and budget (travel costs are excluded)

Remuneration

USD 9,980 per month as per consultants' fees grid.

Living expenses

A living expense is payable to on-site consultants who are internationally recruited: Rate and currency will be communicated in due course.

Expected duration of contract

3 months

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(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). 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.
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