Roster%5C: Technical/Medical Officer/Consultant/Expert for Immunization %26 Vaccine Preventable Disease Surveillance

Objectives of the programme\:

The WHO South-East Asia Regional Office in Delhi serves 11 countries, that have nearly 1.9 billion people residing in these countries with a combined annual birth cohort of nearly 38 million infants. Immunization is one of the most cost effective public health interventions and all countries of the Region give high importance to their national immunization programmes (NIP).

The objective of the programme is to promote and support Member States in the South-East Asia Region to strengthen surveillance of vaccine preventable diseases and improve immunization performance, including introduction of new vaccines and accelerated control of vaccine preventable diseases, by developing and improving national and regional plans and promotion of capacities for sustainable improvements in alignment to the Regional Vaccine Action Plan goals.

Description of duties\:

(Note\: This is a generic description of duties developed for a roster of consultants/experts. The final terms of the reference for the assignment/contract will be based on the actual requirements of the assignment.)

Under the overall guidance of the Director, Family Health, Gender and Life Course, and in close collaboration with Team Leader (IVD) and WHO country office EPI focal persons, the consultant/expert will be expected to carry out time-limited assignments in one or more of the following areas\:

A. Immunization, Vaccine Preventable Disease Surveillance and Programme Operations\:

• Technical assistance at the Regional/country level for strategic guidance and operational support for activities targeted towards the achievement and maintenance of measles elimination and rubella control/elimination through the development and implementation of regional/national plans. This will include support for strengthening surveillance for measles and rubella to meet elimination standards; ensuring preparedness, implementation and monitoring of high quality supplementary immunization activities for measles and rubella; and ensuring preparedness, investigation and response to measles/rubella outbreaks.
• Technical assistance at the Regional/country level to support implementation of polio endgame and post-certification strategies targeted towards the maintenance of polio-free status; support the sustenance of maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination; and support acceleration of efforts to achieve Hepatitis B control and Japanese encephalitis (JE) control.

• Technical assistance at Regional/country level for strengthening immunization systems and services to support improvements in routine immunization coverage, including an analysis of the cause of low coverage as well as the development, implementation and monitoring of operational plans to overcome the barriers to achieve high immunization coverage; development of guidelines and facilitating the training activities.

• Technical assistance to countries for overall immunization policy development and performance reviews including development of costed multi-year plans for immunization, integrating immunization services with the health system and conducting EPI and surveillance reviews.

• Technical assistance at Regional/country level to support surveillance of vaccine preventable diseases, including development and implementation of guidelines and operational plans, and review the quality of surveillance.

• Technical assistance at Regional/Country level to support surveillance of adverse events following immunization (AEFI) as well as issues related to the availability and supply of quality vaccines.

• Technical assistance at the Regional/country level to support the introduction of new and under-utilized vaccines including analysis of disease burden, development of proposals, technical guidelines and post-introduction evaluations.

• Technical assistance at the Regional/country level to support research activities as relevant for the achievement and maintenance of elimination/control of vaccine preventable diseases, including operational research to improve immunization coverage and surveillance performance.

• Technical assistance at the Regional/country level to support immunization and surveillance activities for vaccine preventable diseases during an emergency.

• Technical assistance at the Regional/country level for demand generation for vaccination including developing relevant targeted strategies, plans and guidelines. 

B. Vaccine Preventable Disease Laboratory Support\:

Technical assistance at Regional/country level to strengthen laboratory capacity for surveillance of vaccine preventable diseases such as polio, measles, JE, invasive bacterial diseases and other diseases as relevant to the Regional programme. This will include building capacity of laboratories and streamlining and monitoring the procedures for implementation of good laboratory practices for vaccine preventable diseases in the Region.

C. Data Management and Use for Vaccine Preventable Diseases\:

Technical assistance at the Regional/country level to strengthen data management practices for immunization and surveillance of vaccine preventable diseases, including data quality assessments and development of data quality improvement plans.

(Note\: Please indicate clearly in your cover letter, the specific technical areas (A, B or C, as above) that you wish to be considered for, indicating clearly your experience in these areas in your application).  

For all assignments\: University degree in medicine, health sciences, public health or community health, medical/social anthropology, social sciences or relevant field from a recognized university.

P4 and P5 level assignments require, in addition\: Master’s-level university degree in public health or community health or allied sciences, as relevant, from a recognized university.

Functional skills and knowledge

1. Knowledge of principles of public health and health systems, immunization services, management, monitoring and evaluation.

2. Excellent written and oral communication and presentation skills, with the ability to clearly and concisely communicate complex issues.

3. Demonstrated ability to maintain effective relationships with a wide range of stakeholders in government and beyond, including other development agencies.

4. Skills in training and facilitation

Knowledge of WHO rules and regulations and good knowledge of the working of UN and other international agencies.

2. Respecting and promoting individual and cultural difference

4. Producing results

5. Moving forward in a changing environment

Other skills\:

Excellent knowledge of MS Office applications and computer skills, including to make high quality technical presentations and for data analysis.

Experience\:

Essential\: At least 2 to 10 years’ experience in immunization related area in a developing country as per the below grades\:

For P2 grade\: At least two years of experience in the area of specialization

For P3 grade\: At least five years of relevant experience including some years of international experience

For P5 grade\: At least 10 (ten) years of relevant experience, including considerable experience obtained in an international context

- Experience of implementing/monitoring disease surveillance or laboratory systems or immunization programs at national/sub-national level.

-Experience in monitoring and review of Immunization programmes/projects in developing country.

-Experience in analyzing relevant data and producing relevant reports with time-bound recommendations. 

-Expert knowledge of English with excellent written and verbal communication skills is essential.

-Knowledge of regional language(s) would be an asset.

Additional information\:

• The purpose of this VN is to invite qualified professionals with relevant expertise for P2/P3/P4/P5 grades for inclusion in a roster of experts for possible short-term assignments which may arise from time to time at the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia or in any of the WHO country offices located in the Member States of the Region namely\: Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste.

• The grade of the position will be fixed based on the level of responsibilities and complexity of tasks assigned as reflected in the terms of reference.

• The duration of assignment would vary from two weeks to one year. Any extension of contract would be subject to programmatic requirements, performance of the incumbent and availability of funds.

• Please note applications should be submitted through WHO's online recruitment portal. Please visit www.who.int/careers to complete an online profile and to apply to this vacancy.

• Please indicate in your application (cover letter), the technical areas that you wish to be considered for

• A written test and interview may be used to screen applicants.

• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.

• In the event 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.

• Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and   Manual.

• For information on WHO's operations please visit\:  http\://www.who.int./

• WHO is committed to workforce diversity.

• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.

• Applications from women and from nationals of non-and under-represented Member States are particularly encouraged.

• Please visit the following websites for detailed information on salary scales\: http\://icsc.un.org. click on\: Quick Links > Salary Scales > by date