Public Health - National Consultant

Contract

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Title: "Public Health Consultant" Type of engagement: National Consultant Duty Station: Prishtina Start date: 20 November 2020 End date: 20 October 2021

Purpose of Activity/Assignment: UNICEF supports Kosovo in achieving its immunization goals with an immediate focus on strengthening the cold chain system as well as the preparedness for a COVID-19 vaccine; the purpose of the consultancy will be to support the Ministry of Health and other relevant entities with the implementation of the plan to update and strengthen the vaccine cold chain in Kosovo and to prepare for the deployment of a COVID-19 vaccine and vaccination.

Scope of Work: The Ministry of Health and UNICEF are in the process of finalizing an assessment of the Kosovo vaccine cold chain system. Findings from the assessments will inform the Ministry of Health and other policy makers on the way forward in introducing a replacement plan for the outdated vaccine cold chain equipment, strengthen distribution logistics and the monitoring system. Kosovo is assessed to be at a critical stage concerning vaccine management, cold chain and logistics, where most of its cold chain equipment date back to 2000 and earlier.

Strengthening the vaccine cold chain and supply is one of the immediate requirements for action that Kosovo is taking in preparation for the deployment of a COVID-19 vaccine, while a lot of specific characteristics of the vaccine are still in process of development and remain unknown.

As of date, there are multiple ongoing global initiatives that are looking into the availability and delivery of a COVID-19 vaccine. To prepare countries for COVID-19 vaccine introduction, UNICEF, WHO and Gavi, and other partners are working together at the global and regional levels to develop and disseminate guidance, trainings, planning and monitoring tools, and to provide technical assistance and support to countries, especially the 92 countries eligible for the donor-subsidized COVAX Advance Market Commitment where Kosovo is eligible as well . The COVAX Facility is a global initiative that brings together governments and manufacturers to ensure that eventual COVID-19 vaccines will reach those in greatest need, whoever they are and wherever they live. COVAX has developed the Vaccine Introduction Readiness Assessment Tool (VIRAT) for use by countries for COVID-19 vaccine introduction and to self-monitor their readiness progress against key milestones.

Under the supervision of the Health and Nutrition Officer, the consultant is expected to:

• Work closely with the Ministry of Health (MoH), the National Institute of Public Health (IPH), Local Health and other relevant authorities to:

• Support the immunization programme by providing technical assistance to MoH in finalizing the vaccine cold chain replacement plan, address the agreed actions and vaccine cold assessment recommendations, including the implementation of the vaccine cold chain equipment replacement and support to the distribution logistics of vaccine cold chain equipment and monitoring systems.
• Meet regularly and support the MoH and the IPH in identifying the gaps and strengthening the capacities of health staff on vaccine cold chain monitoring and maintenance at national and local level.
• Collaborate with different partners, facilitate dissemination of information between different institutions, and facilitate meetings to exchange knowledge between different authorities.
• Conduct regular monitoring activities and collect information from the field.

• Support emergency preparedness response to COVID-19

• Work with the Ministry of Health, the Institute of Public Health, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other key Institutions on data collection, entry and report on the Vaccine Introduction Readiness Assessment Tool (VIRAT). This Readiness Assessment tool is a national level tool which includes key milestones to be completed between November 2020– March 2021, including but not limited to the mapping of institutional capacities and technical assistance needed for the deployment of the COVID-19 vaccine.
• Support the national Technical Working Group, to be chaired by MoH, on developing the National Deployment and Vaccination Plan with input from relevant bodies including the National COVID-19 Response Coordinating Committee.
• Support the National Institute of Public Health to develop a communication strategy to generate demand, confidence and acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Participate in meetings and implement and follow up on agreed actions for the COVID-19 vaccine related emergency response.

1. Tasks/Milestone:

Provide technical assistance to the MoH to finalize the cold chain equipment’s replacement plan, address the vaccine cold assessment recommendations including the implementation of the cold chain replacement, and support the distribution logistics of the vaccine cold chain equipment and monitoring system.

Deliverables/Outputs:

• The new vaccine cold chain equipment and installation plan finalized.
• Real time monitoring of vaccine supply is established.

• Heath workers are trained on using the new vaccine cold chain equipment.

  2. Tasks/Milestone:

Meet regularly and support the MoH and IPH in identifying the gaps and strengthening capacities of health staff on vaccine cold chain monitoring and maintenance at national and local level.

Deliverables/Outputs:

• Meeting reports.
• Actions undertaken and their implementation status.

3. Tasks/Milestone:

Collaborate with different partners, facilitate dissemination of information between different institutions, and facilitate meetings to exchange knowledge between different authorities.

Deliverables/Outputs:

• Meetings organized and facilitated.

• Actions undertaken and their implementation status.

  4. Tasks/Milestone:

• Conduct regular monitoring activities and collect information from the field.

Deliverables/Outputs:

• Field visit reports and monitoring data collected for the immunization programme.

5. Tasks/Milestone:

Data collection, entry and reporting on the Vaccine Introduction Readiness Assessment Tool (VIRAT)

Deliverables/Outputs:

• Regular meeting on VIRAT updates with MoH and other key stakeholders

6. Tasks/Milestone:

Support the national Technical Working Group on developing the National Deployment and Vaccination Plan with input from relevant bodies including the National COVID-19 Response Coordinating Committee.

Deliverables/Outputs:

• Minutes of meetings.
• Documents produced in response to agreed actions.

7. Tasks/Milestone:

Support the National Institute of Public Health to develop a communication strategy to generate demand, confidence and acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine.

Deliverables/Outputs:

• Jointly with MoH, WHO the UNCEF communication and C4D sector draft a communication plan.

8. Tasks

• Perform other related activities as assignment by the supervisor.

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

• University degree, preferably with master’s degree in public health, medicine (medical degree), nursing, healthcare administration, health science, global health, or other relevant disciplines; • At least 2 years of experience on project management or logistics; • Familiar with national immunization programme , logistics and cold chain system • Proven analytical and report writing skills; • Ability to write concisely, clearly, and under time pressure; • Strong facilitation, negotiation and coordination skills; • Knowledge on participatory planning processes, and other practices; • Fluency in oral and written Albanian and English is essential. Communications knowledge in Serbian is an advantage.

Competencies required: Information processing, teamwork, planning/organizing, decisionmaking/problem solving, verbal and written communication

Core Values: Commitment, Diversity and Inclusion, Integrity

Core Competencies: Communication, Working with People, Drive for Results Functional Competencies: Formulating Strategies and Concepts, Analyzing, Applying Technical Expertise, Learning and Researching, Planning and Organizing