Coordination of the Uganda Paediatric and Adolescent HIV Cohort on Antiretroviral Therapy (UP-ART study), Kampala, Uganda

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, a fair chance

Uganda is one of the over 190 countries and territories around the world where we work to overcome the obstacles that poverty, violence, disease, and discrimination place in a child’s path. Together with the Government of Uganda and partners we work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, the objectives of the Uganda National Development Plan, and the planned outcomes of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework.

Visit this link for more information on Uganda Country Office https://www.unicef.org/uganda/

How can you make a difference?

Background:

The paediatric and adolescent HIV unit at the Ministry of Health (MOH) AIDS Control Program (ACP) is responsible for the leadership and coordination of the national paediatric and adolescent HIV response. The core functions include coordination of all stakeholders offering a service for children and adolescents living with HIV; policy and guidelines development and dissemination; capacity building including curriculum development, training, mentorship and support supervision for quality services; utilization of routinely collected data for evidence-based implementation, research and innovation and resource mobilization.

The clinical cascade for children and adolescents living with HIV is still lagging behind compared to that of adults. The UP-ART study is establishing a national paediatric and adolescent HIV observational cohort, building on the Ugandan Ministry of Health network of public hospitals and affiliated networks. This is to assess uptake and short to medium-term outcomes of newly approved paediatric formulations in children and adolescents living with HIV. This is building upon existing data collection tools and electronic medical records in hospitals scaling up new antiretroviral formulations (e.g. DTG) in children / adolescents to evaluate the uptake and outcomes to inform national programme planning and national & global research. The study is to enroll 2700 children and adolescents from three health facilities (Mildmay, Lira Regional Referral Hospital and Hoima Regional Referral Hospital) in regions across the country.

Study Objectives:

• Describe the characteristics of children and adolescents living with HIV receiving paediatric care in the participating centres and coverage of ART
• Describe the uptake of new antiretroviral drugs such as DTG across age groups and regions
• Assess the effectiveness and safety of new antiretroviral drugs such as DTG, including viral suppression, incidence of adverse events, serious adverse events and discontinuation of drug
• Assess broader clinical outcomes including retention in care, mortality, disease progression, immune response, viral suppression, overall and by age and treatment regimen/treatment history
• Assess (i) the prevalence of HIV drug resistance among children/adolescents start of treatment and the impact on treatment response, and (ii) among those who experiencing virological failure on DTG to describe the risk of accumulation of drug resistance.
• To contribute to global meta-analyses of the health of children and adolescents living with HIV and the safety and effectiveness of antiretrovirals

With the targets aimed at achieving 100% enrollment, the study needs a study coordinator who will be responsible for the review and monitor the implementation of systems and procedures for managing the study and as well provide technical support in line with the study protocol and GCP guidelines.

Scope of Work

1. Serves as the primary point of liaison between investigators, research site teams, research participants, sponsoring organizations, and relevant regulatory bodies.
2. Develops and revises study and site specific standard operating procedures (SOPs)
3. Coordinate study and site-specific trainings for staff
4. Oversees the informed consent process
5. Coordinates, plans, and implements the study in accordance with study protocol
6. Monitors study activities and assists in preparation of reports to funding agencies and investigators as appropriate
7. Plans and prepares for regular monitoring visits
8. Assists in the submission of appropriate documents to appropriate IRBs and other regulatory bodies
9. Reviews study documents and case reporting forms for accuracy and appropriateness as appropriate Completes CRFs and source documents as appropriate
10. Provides frequent and precise updates of his/her activities to the Investigators
11. Provides orientation and appropriate training for all newly hired staff
12. Requisitions for the procurement of study equipment and sundries
13. Participate in administration of study financial resources.
14. Contributes to the administration of study materials and resource inventory.
15. Contributes and coordinates the writing of scientific abstracts, papers or any other dissemination material from the study.
16. Attend relevant unit meetings; pediatric and adolescent HIV unit meetings, care and treatment meetings etc.
17. Perform any additional duties assigned by the Pediatrics and Adolescent HIV unit lead, as need arises

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• A Health-Related degree with at least MBChB or equivalent from a recognized institution and must be registered with a professional body
• Previous experience working as a researcher in a coordination role for at least 2 years will be an added advantage.
• A very good understanding of pediatric and adolescent HIV prevention, care and treatment program
• Knowledge and training in Good Clinical Practice and Human Subjects research is required.
• Demonstrable knowledge and extensive previous experience in clinical research preferred.
• Proficient in MS Office application.
• Strong qualitative and quantitative analytic skills and report writing skill
• Fluency in written and spoken English

Conditions:

• Under the consultancy agreements, a month is defined as 21 working days, and fees are prorated accordingly. Consultants are not paid for weekends or public holidays
• Consultants are not entitled to payment of overtime. All remuneration must be within the contract agreement
• No contract may commence unless the consultant provides a certificate of completion of a mandatory course on “Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse”. A certificate to be submitted with the signed contract should have been obtained in the last three months.
• Clearance from DHR will be required for former UNICEF staff

• Clearance from the Government required for civil servants

• The consultancy will commence after signing of the contract.

• The SSA consultancy will include the consultancy fee and DSA. The consultant will be based at the Ministry of Health – ACP, with occasional interface with the HIV team at UNICEF Country Office team.

• The consultant will use their personal computers and will be facilitated in case they have to do any printing or photocopying.
• Transport will be arranged as per approved TAs.
• A consultant will be paid upon presentation of a deliverable report (see deliverable table 1 above)
• Consultants will not have supervisory responsibilities nor authority on UNICEF budget and other resources.
• Consultants will be required to sign the Health statement for consultants/Individual contractor prior to taking up the assignment, and to document that they have appropriate health insurance, if applicable.
• The Form 'Designation, change or revocation of beneficiary' has to be completed by the consultant upon arrival, at the HR Section

Application Procedure/Call for Proposals

Interested candidates are required to submit a technical proposal on how they intend to approach the work. The proposal should include a timeline, and methodology, based on the Terms of Reference. The proposal must also include detailed CV of the consultant, as well as a financial proposal, clearly indicating daily rate for professional fees. The financial proposal must be all-inclusive of all costs (consultancy fees and where applicable air fares, airport transfers, daily living expenses). This is an international level consultancy and competitive market rates should apply.

Evaluation of Candidate:

The consultant will be competitively selected from a list of applicants based on their past experience of doing similar work (extensive experience in writing donor reports, in compiling and editing annual reports for various UNICEF offices).

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The competencies required for this post are….

View our competency framework at

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.