Consultant - Work with the national authorities of Afghanistan to develop and launch the national infection prevention and control (IPC) guidelines.

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Purpose of the consultancy

The overall purpose of the consultancy is to work with the national authorities of Afghanistan to develop and launch the national infection prevention and control (IPC) guidelines.

Background

Evidence-based IPC guidelines are considered among the priority functions of national IPC programme. IPC guidelines should be developed and implemented for the purpose of reducing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Guidelines include IPC good practices and procedures and when implemented in combination with healthcare workers education and training, they can lead to reduction in HAIs. Technical IPC guidelines should provide clear evidence-based standards and a framework for local adaptation and they provide a means by which health care facilities can be held accountable. The availability of technical IPC guidelines on IPC programme organization and key IPC practices is usually a prerequisite for rolling out IPC education and training, including IPC monitoring and evaluation. The MOH in Afghanistan has assigned a national guideline development groups (GDGs) including experts of various disciplines to develop the national IPC guidelines. In this context, WHO EMRO is aiming to support the review, update and finalization of the national IPC guidelines.

Planned timelines

subject to confirmation) 40 working days between July and October 2021 Start date: 01 July 2021 End date: 31 October 2021

Work to be performed

Output 1: Coach the national technical group in Afghanistan to on the scope and content of the national IPC guidelines and provide needed reference materials and technical support to draft the guidelines Deliverable 1.1: Finalized scope and table of content of the national IPC guidelines

Output 1: Conduct technical briefings to national technical group and provide technical expertise to review, update, and edit the draft of the national IPC guidelines in collaboration with the national technical group at the Ministry of Health of Afghanistan.

Deliverable 1.1: A completed technically sound final version of the national IPC guidelines for Afghanistan.

Output 2: Obtain final consensus from the guideline development group in Afghanistan on the final IPC guideline document by sharing the changes and agreeing on them through: - Facilitate workshop (virtual if face-to-face is not possible) with the national guideline development group and experts assigned by the MOH. - Ensure all changes have been approved by the group.

Deliverable 2.1: A consensus from the national guideline development group on the final copy of the guidelines.

Required Qualifications

Education:

- Master’s degree in public health, epidemiology and surveillance, infectious disease, laboratory sciences, microbiology, or other health related fields

- Excellent report writing skills in English

- IPC related publications are highly desirable

Experience:

• 10 years of experience in Infection prevention and control
• Excellent Knowledge of research and practice issues around IPC

Skills/ Technical knowledge

• Excellent report writing skills in English
• IPC related publications are highly desirable

Language

Excellent knowledge of English.

Location:

The consultant will be working mainly from his/her place of residence. The Consultant is expected to travel to Afghanistan to conduct technical briefings and the consensus workshop if the COVID-19 situation permits, separate TR will be issued.

Medical clearance : The selected Consultant will be expected to provide a medical certificate of fitness for work.

Travel (If travel is involved, a medical certificate of fitness for work will be required.) All travel arrangements will be made by WHO – WHO will not be responsible for tickets purchased by the Consultant without the express, prior authorization of WHO. While on mission under the terms of this consultancy, the Consultant will receive subsistence allowance. Visas requirements: it is the consultant’s responsibility to fulfil visa requirements and ask for visa support letter(s) if needed.

Additional Information section

• This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
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• Remuneration is in line with WHO consultant established rates
• Successful candidates will be included in the roster for consideration for future contractual engagement via a consultancy, as they become available. Inclusion in the roster does not guarantee any future contractual relationship with WHO
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