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JOB OPPORTUNITY
Sub-National Officer for Polio Programme – (2309156)
Grade: No grade
Contractual Arrangement: Special Services Agreement (SSA)
Contract Duration (Years, Months, Days): 1 Year
Closing Date: Nov 9, 2023, 4:44:00 AM
Primary Location: Nepal
Organization: SE_NEP WR Office, Nepal
Schedule: Full-time
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that the deadline for receipt of applications indicated above reflects your personal device’s system settings.
Objectives of the Programme:
The programme for Immunization Preventable Disease (IPD) of WHO Nepal has been providing continuous technical assistance to the Government of Nepal (GON) mainly in areas of vaccine preventable disease (VPD) surveillance and immunization, for over past two decades. In addition, WHO-IPD has also supported the government in various emergency responses including the 2015 earthquake, COVID-19 surveillance and response and introduction of new vaccines and national immunization campaign. WHO-IPD operates through a nationwide network of 15 Surveillance Medical Officers (SMO) working through 10 field offices managed by a central coordinating office.
WHO-IPD has also provided technical assistance in informing immunization policy through operational research and has provided pivotal support to the National Immunization Programme (NIP) of Nepal in achieving polio free status, eliminating neonatal tetanus and in controlling measles, rubella, diphtheria, hepatitis-B, Rota, Japanese encephalitis and other VPDs.
Purpose of the position
Nepal along with other countries of Southeast Asia Region was certified polio free in 2014. Nepal has been maintaining polio-free status through high immunization coverage and sensitive polio surveillance. Government of Nepal introduced IPV vaccine in 2014. Globally, IPV using countries faced supply constrains in 2016. There was stock out of IPV vaccine in Nepal from May 2016 to Aug 2018. To address this, fractional inactivated polio vaccine (fIPV) was introduced in October 2018. The 14th meeting of the WHO Southeast Asia Regional Certification Commission for Polio Eradication (RCCPE)- 2021 recommended Nepal to identify areas with missed children and draw a tailored mitigation plan to vaccinate them. The National certification committee for Polio eradication (NCCPE) has also recommended National Immunization Programme (NIP) to vaccinate missed cohort.
The Subnational Officer-provides technical assistance to provincial Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) and health offices/municipalities in all matters related to polio program. Such technical assistance includes but is not limited to implementation of selective IPV campaign, follow-up of campaign preparedness plan, identify vulnerable populations, build capacity of subnational health authorities and health care workers on IPV campaign, and sensitize government and private health sectors personnel in IPV campaign, support collection of campaign coverage data, other support as needed including polio and other vaccine preventable disease (VPD) surveillance.
DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES:
Under the overall guidance of WHO Representative to Nepal, Team Lead IPD and direct supervision of the Surveillance Officer- vaccine preventable diseases, with technical line of reporting to Immunization, Surveillance and Data cluster lead, the Subnational Officer- polio program will perform following functions.
1. Provide technical support during the preparatory phase the IPV campaign meeting at subnational level for key decisions on
- Determining time, duration, place of campaign, high-risk groups, and appropriate strategy to achieve high IPV vaccination coverage.
- Estimating resource requirements.
- Establishing coordination with other line ministries, stakeholders, partners, and civil society organizations.
2. Coordinate with Health offices/municipalities through IPD field office to share IPV Campaign guidelines, protocols, checklists for the implementation of Selective IPV Campaign.
- The subnational officer will work in close coordination with Health Offices of districts, municipality health sections and other relevant division of provincial Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) to provide technical assistance in timely distribution of IPV campaign guidelines, protocols, communication messages other IEC materials for high-quality selective IPV campaign.
- The Subnational officer will coordinate with field offices to conduct coordination meeting with health offices, municipalities, relevant professional and academic organizations, subnational polio partners (e.g., UNICEF, Rotary etc.) and civil society organizations to provide progress update/track campaign progress and readiness assessment.
- Update campaign implementation plan, supervision and monitoring plan and IPV campaign checklists/forms.
3. Conduct a risk mapping to identify vulnerable populations
- Coordinate with IPD field offices and subnational health authorities to map a risk area based on updated routine immunization micro-plan and available local knowledge and information.
- Coordinate with IPD field offices to collect information on actual target of IPV campaign for adequate distribution of IPV vaccines and logistics.
- Support training and orientation of independent monitors to identify communities with missed routine vaccines including zero dose and under vaccinated children.
4. Subnational Officer will collaborate with subnational line ministries (Ministry of Education Science and Technology), in coordination with IPD filed office, to advocate on IPV selective campaign and obtain cooperation and support during campaign including estimation of target population at school.
5. Follow-up and track progress on IPV campaign readiness assessment plan
- The subnational officer will coordinate with focal person of province, district, municipalities on IPV campaign readiness assessment plan.
- The subnational officer will provide monthly progress update on readiness assessment plan to Family Welfare Division and WHO IPD central office.
6. Coordinate with IPD field offices on status of microplanning and logistics requirements by health offices/municipalities to:
- Ensure vulnerable/high-risk communities are included in micro-plan.
- Estimate vaccine and supplies, cold-chain requirements
- Estimate personnel requirement, transportation requirements and costs,
- Estimate costs for planning and training sessions
- Estimate costs for communication and social mobilization activities
- Estimate costs of mop-up activities and other contingencies.
7. Follow-up on campaign advocacy, social mobilization, and communication in coordination with provincial health department, health offices and municipalities.
8. Coordinate with health offices on AEFI monitoring and preparing for crisis communication.
9. Ensure IPV campaign provides an opportunity to strengthen routine immunization and VPD surveillance.
- The subnational officer-IPV coordinates with health offices, municipality health section on update of routine immunization micro-plan, share current coverage data, missed and under vaccinated children by municipality, VPD cases and surveillance status by district, status of weekly reporting units by municipality to enhance VPD surveillance.
- The subnational officer triangulates immunization and surveillance data to prioritize IPV campaign monitoring.
10. Coordinate with IPD field offices for campaign coverage data collection, timely reporting, and analysis.
- Coordinate with IPD field offices for completeness and accurate campaign data collection.
- Update weekly coverage data to program division and WHO central data team for analysis of coverage data.
11. Coordinate with Surveillance Medical Officers to provide technical support on polio surveillance, immunization and quality data management at subnational level.
12. Administrative & supervisory
- Perform other administrative duties according to established WHO guidelines.
13. Perform other assign duties as per needs of the IPD programme including those activities as needed for polio surveillance.
14. Perform other relevant duties as assigned by the supervisors. This includes duty travel or duty-station reassignment on short notice as per the program requirements.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Education:
Essential: First University degree in Medicine (MBBS) or equivalent education from an institution recognized by Nepal Medical Council with valid registration in the Nepal Medical Council
Desirable: Post graduate qualification in one or more of the following disciplines or allied disciplines: Public Health / Epidemiology / Global or International Health / Community Medicine.
Experience:
Essential: At least two years’ experience in health sector or Public Health or related work
Desirable
1. Experience of working with national health programs
2. Experience of working in national disease surveillance programme
3. Experience of working in the NGO/INGO sector or UN would be an asset.
Functional Knowledge and Skills:
1. Good interpersonal skills, able to work as a team member in a multi-cultural environment.
2. Ability to travel within the country and to perform practical hands-on field work.
3. Ability to participate actively and cooperatively in knowledge sharing and policy forums at various levels and also to coordinate with the GoN agencies.
4. Good knowledge in vaccine, immunization and surveillance sector.
5. Very good analytical skills including ability to collect and analyse technical data and information and to draw and present conclusions in written and spoken form.
6. Very good writing skills in English and Nepali, including ability to write clear and concise progress reports, analytical reports, plans and proposals.
Other Skills:
1. Proficiency in Microsoft Office: word processors, spreadsheets and other data processing, presentation programmes, Outlook and Internet and email is essential.
2. Proficiency in Statistical / Epidemiological Analysis software desired.
3. Able to follow instruction and work independently would be an asset.
WHO Competencies:
1. Teamwork
2. Respecting and promoting individuals and cultural differences
3. Communication
4. Producing Results
5. Ensuring the effective use of resources
Use of Language Skills
Essential: Excellent knowledge of written and spoken language skills in English and Nepali
REMUNERATION:
Monthly Salary: (Net of tax) NPR 196,102.00 (Grade: SSA Level 8) at single rate (taxable as per Nepal Government laws and functional modality will be through Special Services Agreement
Grade: SSA Level 8
Duty Station: WHO-IPD Field Office
Additional information
- This Vacancy Notice may be used to fill similar positions at the same level.
- Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
- A written test and interviews will be used as a form of screening
- WHO is committed to workforce diversity.
- 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 into practice.
- WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
- This post is subject to local recruitment and will be filled by persons recruited in the local commuting area of the duty station.
- In the event that your candidature is retained for an 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.
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- Any extension of appointment would be subject to programmatic requirements, performance of the incumbent and availability of funds.
- Qualified female candidates are encouraged to apply.