International Consultant: Blood Transfusion Services

1. Background WHO has been entrusted with the implementation of the Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) component of the Health Sector Transformation Project (HSTP) under the Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF), managed by the World Bank, which commences in July 2024. The HSTP under the MDTF has been conceived as part of the process of increasing efficiencies, reducing transactional costs, and improving health system and service delivery impact within the health sector. The HSTP consists of two components: Health Service Delivery (HSD) and Health systems strengthening (HSS) that will be implemented by UNICEF and WHO respectively, while ensuring synergy and complementarity to maximize impact.

The HSS interventions were jointly developed under the leadership of the Ministry of Health in collaboration with partners and are aligned to the Health Sector Strategic Plan (2023-2027) priorities. They are structured along the following eleven program areas: Emergency Preparedness and Response; Laboratory Systems; Blood Transfusion Services; Health Information Systems; Health Financing; Leadership and Governance; Partnerships; Quality of Care; Essential Medicines; Human Resources for Health; and Disease Control.

The WHO country office is therefore embarking on implementation of the health systems strengthening component of the HSTP and requires a consultant to provide overall technical assistance and coordinate implementation of the Blood Transfusion Services program area interventions.

2.Duties and Deliverables Duties: ⦁ •Provide overall leadership and technical expertise to the Ministry of Health, stakeholders and collaborating staff to develop the National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS) Strategic Plan, disseminate ⦁ Conduct national and state level consultations on the situational analysis/landscape of the NBTS ⦁ Prepare draft NBTS strategic plan following findings from the situational analysis ⦁ Prepare and facilitate discussions during workshop with stakeholders to deliberate on the draft NBTS strategic plan. ⦁ Update the draft NBTS strategic plan and facilitate dialogue with stakeholders for its validation. ⦁ Support the development of annual operational plans for the NBTS strategic plan (consultations and validation) ⦁ Support the development and implementation of community mobilization, awareness creation, donor recruitment and retention strategies and plans ⦁ Lead/facilitate the development of campaign strategy and communication materials to promote a culture of voluntary blood donation. ⦁ Facilitate field testing and validation of the campaign strategy and communication materials for voluntary blood donations ⦁ Coordinate public awareness campaigns, talk shows, dissemination of IEC materials, and blood donation campaigns ⦁ ⦁ Support the development of guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures for NBTS infrastructure, equipment maintenance, supply chain management and waste management ⦁ Conduct National & State level blood transfusion services infrastructure, equipment assessment and standardization ⦁ Facilitate the review, development and dissemination of the NBTS standard operating procedures(SOPs) for infrastructure and equipment ⦁ Support development of NBTS procurement policies , supply chain management and inventory ⦁ Support the development of standard operating procedures for NBTS safe waste management ⦁ Plan and coordinate the training of the blood bank staff on core SOPs for blood collection, blood testing, and transfusion and support blood donation campaigns in all states ⦁ Plan and coordinate quarterly supervision visits by NBTS to the subnational blood transfusion sites/laboratories

Deliverables: ⦁ Deliverable 1: An inception report and detailed work plan ⦁ Deliverable 2: National Blood Transfusion Services Strategic Plan ⦁ Deliverable 3: Annual operational plan for the NBTS Strategic plan ⦁ Deliverable 4:Campaign Strategy and communication material for voluntary blood donation ⦁ Deliverable 5: NBTS SOPs for infrastructure and equipment ⦁ Deliverable 6: NBTS Procurement and Supply Chain Management SOPs ⦁ Deliverable 7: Report of blood ban staff training ⦁ Deliverable 8: Report on Quarterly support supervision ⦁ Deliverable 9: Final consultancy report

3. Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Identify the educational qualifications and expertise needed for the terms of reference outlined above.

Educational Qualifications: Essential: A university degree in medicine or biomedical laboratory Sciences.

Desirable: Additional training in the management of blood transfusion services, immunology, and /or proven record laboratory quality management. post-graduate training in Hematology and Blood transfusion, microbiology, or a related field in biological sciences.

Experience:

Essential: Minimum 10 years relevant professional work experience in the management and organization of blood transfusion services; training and development of national blood transfusion policies, strategies; regulations, and standard operating procedures; Desirable: experience in health care management and health planning; international organization experience and infection prevention and control (IPC); fragile state settings

Skills/Knowledge: ⦁ Expertise of blood transfusion policies, strategies, regulations, and standard operating procedures. ⦁ Demonstrated ability to provide sound methodological and technical advice and guidance to Ministry of Health and other stakeholders including donors ⦁ Proven track record in strategic planning and policy development. ⦁ Practical analytical skills necessary to translate data or information into concrete action ⦁ Excellent report writing skills ⦁ Strong analytical, facilitation, and communication skills. ⦁ Able to work effectively in a diverse team environment.

Languages and level required ⦁ Expert knowledge of English

Additional Information (For HR use only):

· 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.
• 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 socio-economic 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/diversity-equity-and-inclusion) 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/who-we-are/our-values) into practice.

• WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). 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 short-listed candidates.
• WHO has a smoke-free 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 (SHW). 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. Country-specific vaccine recommendations can be found on the WHO international travel and Staff Health and Wellbeing website. For vaccination-related queries please directly contact SHW directly at [email protected].
• In case the recruitment website does not display properly, please retry by: (i) checking that you have the latest version of the browser installed (Chrome, Edge or Firefox); (ii) clearing your browser history and opening the site in a new browser (not a new tab within the same browser); or (iii) retry accessing the website using Mozilla Firefox browser or using another device. Click the link for detailed guidance on completing job applications: Instructions for candidates.

Apply now

Added 3 days ago - Updated 3 hours ago - Source: who.int