Junior International Consultant - Public Health Intelligence (PHI)

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Qualifications

Area of expertise:

Junior International Consultant - Public Health Intelligence (PHI)

Purpose of consultancy

The Junior International Consultant - Public Health Intelligence (PHI) will undertake the PHI activities, including detection, verification, initial risk assessment and communication of acute public health events, as part of the Health Emergency Information and Risk Assessment (HIM) unit of WHO Health Emergencies Programme (WHE) at WHO SEARO to enable uninterrupted regional PHI functions on 24/7 basis.

Background

WHO South-East Asia Region continues to face various health emergencies such as infectious disease outbreaks, natural disasters, humanitarian crises, and food safety issues. Moreover, the context and consequences of health emergencies are becoming increasingly complex. It is crucial to continue our collective efforts to strengthen health security systems, including holistic systems to generate PHI to guide decision making.

Globally, the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) mandates WHO to carry out public health intelligence (PHI) activities. For example, Articles 5 and 9 require surveillance to detect public health events that may cause international disease spread. Article 11 requires WHO to share the information through the event Information site (EIS) and disease outbreak news (DON) as appropriate.

In WHO South-East Asia Region, informed by lessons learnt from recent severe emergencies in the Region, including the COVID-19 pandemic, SEARO worked with Member States to develop Strategic Framework for Action for Strengthening Surveillance, Risk Assessment and Field Epidemiology for Health Security Threats in the WHO South-East Asia Region. One of the key priorities highlighted in the Framework is to further strengthen Regional Public Health Intelligence (PHI) function to ensure timely regional alert for health security threats, including the establishment of a Regional PHI community. The framework also calls for strengthening regional networks and community on PHI for continuous learning and to build PHI capacities across the Region.

To fulfill the roles mandated by IHR (2005) and priorities defined in the Regional strategic framework, it is critical for WHE/SEARO to ensure uninterrupted regional PHI functions on 24/7 basis. This requires maintaining a workforce of qualified individuals, engaging consultants to bolster the team capacity.

Deliverables

Under the overall guidance of the Programme Area Manager – Health Emergency Information and Risk Asssessment. (PAM - HIM), the consultant will assist following duties.

·         Conduct regional event-based surveillance (EBS) through media scanning, using Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) and other information sources 

·         Take part in the teamwork to triage and manage the signals and events of acute public health events. This will include preparing summaries to update information in the WHO’s Event Management System (EMS) and other regional PHI database.

·         Contribute to initial risk assessments of acute public health events.

·         Contribute to development of information products, such as daily PHI reports, external bi-weekly epidemiological bulletin, and internal weekly situation reports.

·         Assist in data entry, data management, and analysis.

·         Respond to requests from PAM-HIM when appropriate.

·         Submit activity reports on monthly basis and a final report at the end of the assignment.

1.    Deliverable 1. Results of daily media scanning, contribution to daily PHI reports, and signal and event information management on EMS, expected on daily basis.

2.    Deliverable 2. Validated entry of acute public health event data into the SEARO PHI database, expected on routine basis.

3.    Deliverable 3. Contribution to weekly or bi-weekly information products, expected on routine basis.

4.    Deliverable 4. Monthly activity reports, expected in the first week of the subsequent month, and the final report at the end of assignment.

Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational Qualifications:

Essential: University degree in public health, epidemiology, medicine, veterinary medicine, or related health discipline.

Desirable: Advanced university degree (Master level or above) in above health disciplines.

Experience

Essential: At least three years of professional experience in public health surveillance, infectious disease prevention and control, or public health information management and analytics.

Desirable:

·         Experience conducting event-based surveillance activities.

·         Experience with the Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources system.

·         Experiences working in resource-limited countries for public health programme.

Skills/Knowledge:

Essential:

·         Proven interpersonal and communication skills, with appropriate diplomacy in communicating with relevant government and other stakeholders.

·         Demonstrated capacities to work as part of a team of people with various backgrounds and cultures.

·         Proven ability to write technical documents and information products on public health matters in a clear and concise manner.

·         Ability to quickly summarize information from various sources and communicate the key points under time pressure.

·         Ability to critically think by analyzing information carefully and recognizing key insights.

·         Technical knowledge and skills in surveillance, investigation, risk assessment and control of infectious diseases with epidemic and pandemic control.

·         Knowledge of International Health Regulations (2005).

Languages and level required (Basic/Intermediate/Expert):

Essential: Expert knowledge of English

Location

The consultant may be requested to travel to critical meetings

Travel

The consultant may or may not be asked to travel, based on emerging needs and through discussion with the consultant

Remuneration and budget (travel costs are excluded): Band level A

Living expenses: Not applicable for offsite and onsite for insurance purpose

Expected duration of contract (Maximum contract duration is 11 months per calendar year): 4 to 6 months

Additional Informaiton:

·         This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.

·         Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.

·         A written test may be used as a form of screening.

·         If your candidature is retained for 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.