The Medicines, Technologies, and Pharmaceutical Services (MTaPS) Program

Recruitment of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Program Advisor for COVID-19 Response in Somali and Oromia Regions

Statement of Work

Background

The USAID-funded Medicines, Technologies, and Pharmaceutical Services (MTaPS) program, implemented by Management Sciences for Health (MSH), has been providing technical assistance to the Ministry of Health (MoH)/EPHI, the Addis Ababa City Administration Health Bureau (AACAHB) and Amhara Regional State Health Bureau in the fight against COVID-19, focusing its activities on Infection Prevention and Control (IPC). MTaPS is tasked with strengthening the IPC capabilities of designated health facilities serving COVID-19 patients while at the same time supporting measures to safeguard the safety of frontline healthcare workers. MTaPS now wants to expand its technical support to the emergency operation centers (EOC)/Regional Health Bureaus  of Oromia and Somali regional states.

Purpose

The purpose of the consultancy is to provide Technical Assistance (TA) to Oromia and Somali region emergency operation centers (EOC) to assess preparedness of quarantine, isolation and treatment COVID-19 centers using officially endorsed guidance, build the capacity of health facilities and isolation centers for COVID-19 suspects and patients in line with established standards and ensure the safety of healthcare workers providing service in COVID-19 designated facilities. Support to healthcare professionals includes trainings and supportive supervision in the proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE), management of medical waste and production/adaptation of various guidelines and SOPs.

Scope of Work

The consultant will be responsible for the following activities:

• Adopt/adapt COVID-19 guidelines and SOPs in the following areas and support facilities to implement protocols for:
  • Screening and triaging protocols and checklists at facility access points for early recognition of COVID-19 cases
  • Standard and additional empirical precautions
  • Surge fatality management protocols and administrative controls on Infection Prevention and Control (IPC)
  • Proper collection and disposal of contaminated materials
  • Safe burial of deceased patients infected with COVID-19
• Work with the national and regional EOC to conduct rapid assessment of the IPC situation in designated public and private facilities, including quarantine and isolation centers for COVID-19 in accordance with official guidance for infection control in healthcare facilities
• Support IPC program management, including triaging of acute respiratory infection patients, early recognition of cases, source control (isolation), application of standard and additional (contact, droplet and airborne) precautions; safe collection and handling of laboratory specimens, administrative controls, environmental and engineering controls, IPC guidance, facility access, just-in-time (refresher) training strategy, surge capacity, fatality management, considerations for alternative care sites and waste management.
• Work with a team of IPC experts at EOC and designated health facilities to support the revision or development of facility emergency management plans that ensure facilities have up-to-date emergency management plans, protocols and teams.
• Build the capacity of health professionals working in designated health facilities /isolation and treatment centers/ by providing training using approved COVID-19-specific IPC prevention and control guidance, Covid-19 clinical presentation and epidemiological case definitions, laboratory biosafety, and IPC in general and IPC in the context of Covid-19.
• Support health facilities in developing rapid improvement plan to effectively implement and sustain IPC practice for COVID-19 in line with established standards
• Support designated health facilities to determine and enhance their surge capacity by delivering just-in-time (refresher) training, including blended learning sessions, e-learning courses and training toolkits for surge response staff
• Adopt and disseminate Job-Aids related to CVOID-19 IPC guidance for care providers
• Monitor IPC and WASH implementation in selected healthcare facilities using the Infection Prevention and Control Assessment Framework, the Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Framework, hand hygiene compliance observation tools, and the WASH Facilities Improvement Tool
• Building the capacity of IPC committees (or similarly functioning committees when they exist) or establishing them as accountability structures in designated health facilities 
• Support in identifying or designating areas to manage COVID-19 patient isolation units following standard recommendations
• Support regular monitoring of IPC compliance at facility access points and isolation units
• Facilitate after-action review assessment that includes the IPC component of the response and document lessons learnt.
• Provide weekly activity update to the MTaPS Program Director

Deliverables

• Facility capacity assessment report on COVID-19 emergency preparedness and gaps identified
• Rapid improvement plan to effectively implement and sustain IPC practice for COVID-19
• Implementation of WHO/CDC/EPHI and other approved Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) for 1) screening and triage, 2) standard and additional empirical precautions, 3) surge fatality management protocols, 4) proper collection and disposal of contaminated medical waste, 5) infection prevention measures for healthcare workers, 6) safe burial of deceased patient infected with COVID-19,
• Facility ongoing compliance monitoring /self-assessment checklists
• Job aids for specific categories of staff (clinical and non-clinical staff) 

Place of assignment:

• The consultant assigned to Oromia Regional State will work with the Oromia Regional Health Bureau/EOC in Addis Ababa
• The consultant assigned to Somali Regional State will work with the Somali Regional Health Bureau/EOC in Jig-jiga.

Duration of contract

• The consultancy is a three-month contract for the period from June 10, 2020 to September 30^th, 2020.

Qualification/Requirements

This work requires expertise in infection prevention and control (IPC), disease outbreak management and skills in capacity building of healthcare workers. 

• Knowledge and understanding of the dynamics about COVID-19 emergency required
• MD or MPH, or BSc in environmental Health Sciences or qualification in field epidemiology, disease control, global health or any related field
• Expertise in outbreak management/infection transmission (e.g. Ebola) a plus
• At least 5 years’ experience in healthcare settings, field epidemiology or emergency outbreak management
• Proven track record in Infection Prevention and Control (IPC)
• A good knowledge of the Ethiopian health system
• Willingness to work with different stakeholders during epidemics to save lives
• Willingness to travel within the assigned regional state in Oromia or Somali