National Surveillance Officer- Vector Borne Disease & Malaria

( 2308009 )

Grade : NO-C

Contractual Arrangement : Fixed-term appointment

Contract Duration (Years, Months, Days) : 1 Year

Job Posting: Aug 29, 2023, 2:51:16 PM

Accelerating the scale-up of malaria, and other vector control interventions through

Implementing effective policies and strategies adapted to local needs; Increasing the involvement of communities, health professionals, non-governmental Organizations, and the private sector by building on the district health system and strong partnerships; the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the National Malaria strategic plan, the Global Technical Strategy and other VBDs action Plans. Malaria surveillance is a core intervention and is as the second element in the High Burden, High Impact (HBHI) implementation framework.

With Malaria being heterogenous in Nigeria, and requiring targeted interventions, in order to drive impact, there is need to move away from a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to malaria.

The incumbent will provide technical support to the country in strengthening data availability, better analysis and the strategic use of quality data for evidence generation to deploy the most effective malaria control tools and determine decisions/actions that will contribute to reducing malaria morbidity and mortality. The incumbent will support the use data to optimize the way tools are delivered to those in need through all conduits of delivery, including improved primary health care through the public and private sectors.

Objectives of the Programme and of the immediate unit or field activity (Overview of the programme)

Malaria remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Nigeria accounting significantly to major cause of illness and death in the country. The goal of the NMSP, 20121-2025 is to achieve a parasite prevalence of less than 10% and reduce mortality attributable to malaria to less than 50 deaths per 1,000 livebirths by 2025. The National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) has prioritized the delivery of robust multi-stakeholder, multisectoral and appropriate strategy mixes based on the stratification of Nigeria into low, medium, high and very high epidemiological areas to achieve a rapid reduction in malaria burden and deaths while maintaining consistency with the key principles and pillars of the National Strategic Health Development Plan.

The WHO Malaria programme priorities are aligned to the National Program strategic direction which are to;

I. Improve integration of delivery of prevention, treatment and care interventions;

II. Improve Prevention and Treatment of Malaria through development of programmes that promote equitable access to essential medicines and their rational use by prescribers;

III. Strengthen surveillance, monitoring & evaluation systems to provide strategic and timely information;

IV. Sustain political commitment, resource mobilization and partnership through advocacy, communication and social mobilization (ACSM) and increased new knowledge, intervention tools and strategies from operational research

These priorities serve the objectives of 1)Improve access and utilization of vector control interventions to at least 80% of targeted population by 2025 2) Ensure provision of chemoprevention, diagnosis and appropriate treatment for 80% of the target populations at risk by 2025 3) Improve generation of evidence for decision making and impact through reporting of quality malaria data and information from at least 80% of health facilities (public and private) and other data sources including surveillance, surveys and operations research by 2025 4) Strengthen coordination, collaboration, and strategic partnership to promote efficiency and effectiveness of malaria control activities towards achieving at least 75% improvement from baseline using a standardized OCA tool and 5)Improve funding for malaria control by at least 25% annually through predictable and innovative sources to ensure sustainability at federal and sub-national levels

The Malaria and VBD unit is domiciled within the UCN Cluster in the WHO country office in Nigeria and supports efforts of the national programme to control/eliminate malaria across the country, in the context of a strengthened health system and integrated service delivery.

Organizational Context (Describe the work environment, the role of the individual within the team – team member, specialist, adviser, facilitator, coordinator/manager, representative, expert, authority in the field, etc) available guidelines and degree of independence in decision-making, and nature and purpose of contact within and outside the Organization.

Under the direct supervision of the UCN cluster lead and the overall guidance of the Deputy Country Representative and the WHO country representative in the WHO Country Office, the incumbent will be a key member of the WCO, acting as the focal point for cross-cutting provision of Monitoring and Evaluation support in the WCO with specific attention to malaria and other vector borne diseases. She/he will have the first line responsibility for promoting effective M & E strategies for the WCO as well as supporting the National malaria partnership in the Country. This role involves wide consultations with the various relevant stakeholders including UN Agencies and NGO’s. The incumbent will work in close coordination with the regional office, and WHO/HQ and Within the delegated authority and in collaboration with other specialists at HQs and in other offices the officer will provide technical support to the Ministry of Health.

Summary of Assigned Duties (Describe what the incumbent has to do to achieve main objectives; include main achievements expected): Under the direct supervision of the UCN Cluster Lead ,

The incumbent will perform the following duties:

•  Strengthen national malaria and other vector borne disease surveillance systems, including other health information systems for generation of strategic information for evidence-based targeting of malaria interventions for enhanced malaria burden reduction, through adoption, adaptation and application of relevant WHO norms and standards, guidelines, manuals and tools and appropriate technologies and e-platforms
•  Ensure availability of quality data, and use of analytics for planning and decision making at national and sub-national levels
•  Build capacity on the use of surveillance, monitoring and evaluation and other health data for malaria subnational tailoring of intervention using data triangulation for stratification
•  Guide evidence-based targeting and micro-stratification at community or high-risk areas with appropriate antimalarial interventions.
•  Monitor the impact of interventions, performance of programme at national and sub-national levels to guide programmatic strategies for enhanced impact.
•  Contribute to documentation and publication of best practices on the use of available evidence for targeting interventions at national and subnational levels
•  Undertake any other functions assigned

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)

•  Teamwork
•  Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
•  Communication
•  Producing results
•  Moving forward in a changing environment

Competencies: Management

•  Technical
•  Producing results
•  Fostering integration and teamwork
•  Communicating in a credible and effective way
•  Creating an empowering and motivating environment
•  Moving forward in a changing environment

For all positions that possess Managerial/Supervisory responsibilities, an additional mandatory Management Competency is required

Functional Skills and Knowledge (Describe skills and knowledge specific to the post):

•  Broad knowledge of the principles and practices of communicable disease epidemiology with specific experience in malaria surveillance and operational research
•  Experience with spatial statistical methods and epidemiological data analysis for infectious diseases
•  Proven skills in the analysis of routine disease surveillance data
•  Proven experience in the development and evaluation of systems, policies, strategies, guidelines and tools for disease control and/or elimination
•  Proven skills and knowledge in the development and evaluation of disease surveillance systems in a public health setting
•  Demonstrated skills in capacity building, especially the training of health workers
•  Presentation and communication skills
•  Proven skills in modeling and use of analytics for programme decisions

Education (Qualifications)

Essential: University degree in epidemiology or biostatistics, or other relevant health-related fields

Desirable: Master’s degree in epidemiology or biostatistics, or other relevant health-related fields

Experience

Essential: Five (5) years of experience in the development and evaluation of national disease surveillance systems.

Desirable: Experience in National Health Surveillance Systems. Expert knowledge in modelling and geospatial analysis

Languages

Essential: Expert knowledge of English

Desirable: Other skills and knowledge