Public Health Officer-Essential Health Services (SSA)

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Application deadline 1 year ago: Saturday 21 May 2022 at 21:59 UTC

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    • Purpose of the Position:

To promote Health systems approach for a holistic and effective COVID-19 response at subnational level, together with the national and international partners through maintaining essential Health services for RMNCAH, Noncommunicable and communicable disease during the pandemic. The incumbent will be responsible for needs assessments, strategy adaptation supporting the implementation and monitoring of the Continuity of Essential Health Services during COVID19

  1. Job Description
    • Objectives of the Programme and of the immediate Strategic Objective

The mission of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme (The Programme) is to help countries, and to coordinator international action, to prevent, prepare for, detect, rapidly respond to, and recover from outbreaks and emergencies.

Organizational context (Describe the individual role of incumbent within the team, focusing on work environment within and outside the organization)

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Reporting to the Coordinator- Health systems, under the overall guidance of the Incident Manager and Head of WHO Country Office, the Public Health Officer- Essential Health Services will have the overall responsibility for coordinating health systems and service delivery strategies to restore and maintain provision of safe and quality essential health services needs to prevent death and disability to achieve the best attainable health status for the populations which WHO serves. In close collaboration with Provinces and all relevant stakeholders, s/he identifies and engages with relevant Health Programme Managers and staff as well as the incident management system, at the national and subnational level, for strategy development and implementation pertaining to the continuity of essential health services throughout the full cycle of prevention, preparedness, recovery and response phase. This will involve ongoing contacts with national health authorities, other UN agencies, national and international.

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Summary of Assigned Duties (Describe what the incumbent must do to achieve main objectives; include main achievements expected):

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During deployment, the duty station may change, and duties may be modified, based upon the technical needs of the Programme.

  1. Provide cutting edge technical assistance in strengthening resilience of health systems and strategies for improved coordination, planning and monitoring of the continuity of essential health services during the pandemic as part of WHO support to the provincial and district level Emergency response
  2. Monitor health service coverage and produce regular reports with up to date disaggregated data and trends, suggesting key recommendations for improving coverage of various medical, surgical, diagnostic and public health services pertaining to key health programmes on reproductive, maternal and child health, Expended programme on Immunization, Non communicable disease, HIV, TB and other ambulatory and in-patient services.
  3. Provide evidence informed methodical approach aligned with WHO norms and standards for phased reduction and resumption in service provision based on pandemic phase/ alert levels including mechanisms for optimizing key health resources, and health service delivery platforms tailored to local context and community needs
  4. Support development of strategies and interventions to maintain essential health services during different phases of pandemic including the risk adjusted package of health services aligned with health needs of the population.
  5. Support Development of plans for catching up and monitoring implementation of the campaigns ensuring that no-one is left behind

  6. Working with key stakeholders, support implementation of mechanisms to improve quality, safety and effectiveness of essential health services – including establishing triage systems, strengthening Infection prevention and control, occupational safety and health interventions

  7. Participate in regular coordination meetings with National and or Subnational (Province and District), WHO Incident management teams and partners to facilitate the overall health response, exchange information, produce and circulate minutes, related decisions and follow through on key aspects of maintaining essential health services
  8. Support Intra-action reviews (IAR) and develop detailed “lessons learnt” reports on essential health services, recommending key mechanisms for improvement.
  9. Communicate priorities, plans, needs and concerns related to maintaining essential health services to the Incident management team, and specific challenges that require multi-sectoral action.
  10. Support IMT Leads and pillar leads to identify urgent technical gaps and training needs in relation to maintaining essential health services during COVID-19 response; identify opportunities for sustainable capacity building in collaboration with partners.
  11. Ensure appropriate links among humanitarian actions and longer-term health sector plans, incorporating the concept of “building back better” into the COVID-19 recovery plan.
  12. Actively participate in the assessment, monitoring and evaluation of the COVID-19 situation, recommending appropriate actions and innovative approaches, to fill the identified health service delivery gaps.
  13. Support the review and development of Provincial COVID-19 resurgence plans, recovery plans, as well as other contingency planning for potential new events and ensure proper linkages with the incident management system, disaster risk reduction, relief and recovery to complement national health sector preparedness/response plans.
  14. Contribute to the preparation of other WHO and health cluster communication products (situation reports, health cluster bulletins, donors alerts, and other ad-hoc reports).
  15. Represent WHO in coordination meetings with partners, stakeholders involved in COVID-19 response at the sub-national level.
  16. Perform any other health systems strengthening and essential health services specific duties, as required by the functional supervisor.

Recruitment Profile Competencies: Generic

Describe the core, management or leadership competencies required - See WHO competency model - list in order of priority, commencing with the most important ones.

  1. Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond
  2. Teamwork
  3. Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
  4. Creating an empowering and motivating environment
  5. Communication

Functional Knowledge and Skills

    • Describe the essential knowledge and the skills specific to the position
  • Demonstrated knowledge of the rapid response operations and their implementation in emergencies as related to public health, complemented by demonstrated ability to identify and manage difficult situations, to lead and direct multidisciplinary and multinational staff.

  • In-depth knowledge of emergency relief policies and practices within the UN, other UN specialized agencies, donor agencies, national and international NGOs.
  • Sound knowledge and experience about disaster prevention and preparedness programmes and the incident management system.
  • Excellent negotiation skills and ability to convene stakeholders and facilitate a policy process among UN, NGOs, national health authorities and donors.

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Education Qualifications

* Essential

An advanced university degree (Master’s level or above) in public health, medicine, international health, management or social sciences or related field.

Desirable

Specialized training in management, health system recovery, and health cluster coordination.

Experience

* Essential

At least seven years of relevant experience at national or international level, in provision of healthcare services, managing health programmes, developing and promoting collaborative partnerships, including experience in coordinating implementation and M&E of health programs in multi-cultural context

Desirable

Relevant work experience in WHO, other UN agencies, Government, relevant nongovernmental or humanitarian organizations.

  1. Use of Language Skills

Excellent knowledge of English. Working knowledge of another South African language

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Other Skills (e.g. IT)

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Knowledge of Microsoft Office software applications. Excellent presentation skills.

Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: who.int