Public Health Surveillance and Intelligence Officer

Volunteering Medical & Health IT & Telecom

Overview

Support national surveillance strategies and enhance response capacities.

You have:

• A minimum of 3 years’ experience with either UN agencies or international NGOs in the area of public health, epidemiology, communication, biostatistics or related fields, preferably in development settings or low-resource settings.
• Familiarity with the mandate and goals of the World Health Organization (WHO) or prior experience with UN organizations is considered an asset.

Contract

This is a UNV International Specialist contract. This kind of contract is known as International UN Volunteer. It is normally internationally recruited only. More about UNV International Specialist contracts.

Public health surveillance is the continuous, systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of health-related data for action. Disease surveillance data serves as the basis for the detection of potential outbreaks for an early warning system to prevent what could become public health emergencies. It enables monitoring and evaluation of the impact of an intervention, helps track progress towards specified goals and clarifies the epidemiology of health issues. An effective disease surveillance system is essential to detect disease outbreaks quickly before they spread, cost lives and become difficult to control. Public health intelligence (PHI) is a core public health function focused on gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data to inform decision-making and improve population health. It involves monitoring health threats, identifying health problems and priorities, and formulating public policies. PHI aims to move from data to knowledge synthesis and actionable insights, enabling timely and effective responses to public health challenges.

Timor-Leste has a high burden of diseases of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, dengue, and neglected diseases such as leprosy, soil transmitted helminth infections, and yaws, also remain a major public health challenge, being endemic in some municipalities. The Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) guideline, published in 2019 and revised in 2023 presented 50 notifiable diseases, health conditions, and events to be reported by 3 different categories. Since 2022, Timor-Leste has implemented the KOICA-funded project "Strengthening Prevention and Response to Infectious Diseases in Timor-Leste", aimed at enhancing national surveillance capacity.

Despite these efforts, the country still faces significant challenges in the timely detection and diagnosis of priority infectious diseases. Limitations include incomplete implementation of guidelines, a shortage of trained surveillance personnel, and the existence of fragmented surveillance systems with limited response capacity, particularly at the subnational level.

Under the overall supervision of the WHO Representative to Timor Leste and the direct supervision of the Technical Officer Surveillance & Epidemiology, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

• Assist in the operationalization of national surveillance strategies and guidelines, particularly related to the Event-Based Surveillance.

• Assist in planning and delivery of training, workshops, and related capacity building activities.

• Support the collection, organization, and dissemination of surveillance-related knowledge products, tools, and resources.

• Support systematic documentation of surveillance programme activities, including meeting minutes, programmatic reports, and training summaries.

• Maintain records of training activities and support the development of a database of trained personnel.

• Support reporting and documentation, including development of briefs, technical reports, and presentations.

• Assist in maintaining up-to-date documentation of the WHO health emergencies programme activities.

• Any other duties as assigned by the WHO Representative to Timor Leste

​​☒​Accountability ​​☒​Adaptability and Flexibility ​​☐​Building Trust ​​☐​Client Orientation ​​☒​Commitment and Motivation ​​☐​Commitment to Continuous Learning ​​☒​Communication ​​☐​Creativity ​​☐​Empowering Others ​​☐​Ethics and Values ​​☐​Integrity ​​☐​Judgement and Decision-making ​​​​☒ ​Knowledge Sharing ​​☐​Leadership ​​☒​Managing Performance ​​☒​Planning and Organizing ​​☒​Professionalism ​​​​☐ ​Respect for Diversity ​​☒​Self-Management ​​☐​Technological Awareness ​​☐​Vision ​​☒​Working in Teams

• A minimum of 3 years’ experience with either UN agencies or international NGOs in the area of public health, epidemiology, communication, biostatistics or related fields, preferably in development settings or low-resource settings.

• Familiarity with the mandate and goals of the World Health Organization (WHO) or prior experience with UN organizations is considered an asset.

Timor-Leste is a small Southeast Asian nation that continues to face challenging living conditions for many of its residents. Since gaining independence in 2002, the country has made significant strides in development; however, infrastructure remains limited, and access to essential services such as healthcare, clean water, and electricity can be inconsistent—particularly in rural areas.

The economy is primarily reliant on agriculture and oil exports. Despite these challenges, the people of Timor-Leste are known for their resilience and strong sense of community. There is a growing national focus on education and sustainable development as key drivers to improve the overall quality of life.

Timor-Leste experiences a hot, tropical climate, characterized by a dry season from May to November and a wet or rainy season from December to April.

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Potential interview questions

Added 10 months ago - Updated 9 months ago - Source: unv.org