Consultant

Job Title: VN040 - To provide technical support for assessment of the implementation of programmatic management of drug-resistant TB (PMDT) for national TB programme in Viet Nam.

1.                     Background:

Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be a public health problem. In 2019, an estimated 10 million people fell ill with TB and an estimated 1.2 million people died from TB worldwide. Globally, there is unprecedented political momentum surrounding the global fight against TB. The WHO Global Ministerial Conference on “ending TB in the sustainable development era” held in 2017 in Moscow emphasized the need for a multisectoral response and a multi-sectorial accountability framework. The first-ever high-level meeting on TB at the UN General Assembly, in September 2018, reiterated the commitment to end TB by country leaders.

Viet Nam is a high TB burden country with an estimated incidence of 176, and mortality of 9.8 per 100,000 population, respectively in 2019. Viet Nam is also high multi-drug resistant (MDR)/rifampicin-resistant (RR) TB burden countries as its estimated MDR/RR-TB incidence was 8.8 per 100,000 population. In 2019, 3234 patients were found to have MDR/RR-TB with laboratory confirmation and 3014 started on treatment. Of the MDR/RR-TB patients who started on treatment in 2018, 71% were successfully treated. PMDT in Viet Nam has made giant steps for the past years continuing to be a pioneer in the introduction of innovative approaches in the diagnosis and treatment of MDR/RR TB patients: 1) Full implementation of the patient triage approach has been made possible with the availability of Xpert MTB/RIF nationwide; 2) Second-line line probe assay (SL-LPA) in certain sites to determine the best treatment regimen for MDR/RR-TB patients; 3) The use of Bedaquiline-containing longer regimen has been approved for expansion and the operational research for Delamanid use has also been approved and being implemented in 3 sites; 4) The all oral shorter treatment regimen (STR) for MDR/RR-TB recently recommended by the WHO has been approved by the Ministry of Health to be expanded under programmatic conditions nationwide from June 2021; and 5) The laboratory network in Viet Nam continues to expand now including 33 culture laboratories, 4 DST centers, 223 Xpert machines, and 4 SL-LPA centers.

WHO recently published consolidated guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of drug-resistant TB (DR-TB). Major improvements in case notification and treatment outcomes of DR-TB are anticipated. In line with the new changes to the diagnosis and treatment of DR-TB and given the burden of MDR/RR-TB in Viet Nam.

In 2011, the World Health Organization for Western Pacific Region (WPRO) established a regional Green Light Committee (rGLC) consisting of experts on MDRTB selected from countries in the region to support countries in scaling up MDRTB program and since then, annually the rGLC missions have been conducted with international experts travelling from outside of Viet Nam. However, due to travel restriction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s rGLC mission have to be conducted by national experts in a modified approach with two main activities: (1) virtual meetings with the national tuberculosis program (NTP) Viet Nam to review the progress of the MDRTB program, including new WHO MDRTB guidelines, and (2) a field assessment in selected provinces.

To support conducting this rGLC mission, WHO is recruiting two local short-term consultants (STC) who support the assessment of the MDRTB program and the field assessment.

2.       Planned timelines

 15 days, including the rGLC virtual meeting, field visits, and finalizing the report

Tentative places of field visits are as follows:

-           Nam Dinh

-           Ninh Binh

The time and place may be changed according to the COVID-19 situation

3.                     Work to be performed

 -          Under the supervision and guidance of the technical staff from ETB/WPRO, WHO Viet Nam, in close coordination with the national tuberculosis program (NTP), the two Consultants will perform and fulfil in a coordinated manner the following functions:

Method(s) to carry out the activity

-          Desk review of background documents: national strategic plan, national TB guidelines including PMDT, previous mission reports (Global Drug Facility (GDF), regional Green Light Committee (rGLC), epidemiological review, Joint Program Review), tools and plan for the filed visit

-          Meeting and working with PMDT program at province, including district, commune level to assess implementation of the PMDT program based on the assessment tool

-          Following the rGLC virtual meeting, develop the field trip plan and complete the tool for field assessment.

-          As the rGLC mission members, the STCs will work with NTP at local level, conduct the two field trips, interview MDRTB patients, identify issues, and;

-          Support finalizing a rGLC field mission report

Outputs:

Consultant 1 

Output 1:

-          Reviewed and finalized the field trip agenda and prepare the tool for assessment in the field trips with NTP.

Output 2:

-          As the assessment team, identified progress, achievements, key issues, and recommendations for improvement of the PMDT in coming years in visited provinces, and supported finalization of the field assessment report in following areas;

o   process of screening, detection through active case finding and routine screening and treatment of MDRTB patients in TB hospitals;

o   M&E mechanism of support and coordination among central MDRTB unit,  provincial, district, and community levels in management, treatment, transferring and monitoring MDRTB patients;  reporting system, including reporting forms, management of data, and reporting MDRTB patients; and

o   implementing IPC activities in points of care for MDRTB patients

Consultant 2

Output 1:

-          Worked with NTP supported administrative and logistic arrangement of the field trips (e.g. communicating with provincial TB hospital in targeted provinces)

Output 2:

-          As the assessment team, identified progress, achievements, key issues, and recommendations for improvement of the PMDT in coming years in visited provinces, and supported finalization of the field assessment report in following areas;

o   management of second-line drug for MDRTB treatment, drug supplies, storage and use

o   management of active safety monitoring and management of TB drug (aDSM)

o   Review capacity on laboratory in testing Gene Xpert, cultural for Drug Susceptibility Testing (DST)

Both consultants should submit followings deliverables upon completion of the consultancy:

·         Deliverable 1.1: Final consultancy report at the end of contract on activities carried out covering all tasks

·         Deliverable 1.2: Draft field assessment report including following areas;

Consultant 1

-          Deliverable 1.2.1: finalized agenda, a plan, and the tool for the field assessment

-          Deliverable 1.2.2: components of assessment of implementing screening, detection, diagnosis, treatment for MDRTB, M&E mechanism of support and coordination, reporting system, and MDRTB patient support, and IPC activities

Consultant 2

-          Deliverable 1.2.3: summary of field trips’ activities, notes of the meeting(s)

-          Deliverable 1.2.4: components of management of second-line drug, monitoring and reporting the serious adverse events (SAEs), and capacity of laboratory on MDRTB of visited provinces

4.                     Specific requirements

 a. Qualifications required:

-     Essential: Post-graduate degree in infectious diseases or public health, with additional training or experiences in tuberculosis management

-          Desirable: Advanced training or degree and demonstrated high skilled knowledge and experiences in tuberculosis management, including in public health or in hospitals. Demonstrated ability to work as part of a team. Availability to work in Viet Nam for the duration of the contract.

b. Experience required:

-          Essential: Minimum of ten years of working on drug-resistant tuberculosis and minimum of three years of practical experience working with the TB program in Viet Nam.

-          Desirable: Prior experience minimum of five years working with NTP and/or international agencies including WHO that working for tuberculosis is an asset.

c. Skills/technical skills and knowledge:

-          Excellent knowledge of TB programme management

-          Skills in analysis and the ability of producing high quality report in English

-          Ability to adapt style of communication and writing for different audiences

-          Ability to communicate complex information clearly

-          Advanced IT skills including PowerPoint and Word

d. Language requirements:

-          Good English communication skills, both speaking and writing

e. Competencies

-        Excellent interpersonal and communication skills

-        Ability to plan and prioritize challenging workloads

-        Demonstrated ability to work as part of a team

 5. Place of assignment

Hanoi

6.      Medical clearance

Medical clearance is required for on- site consultants.

7.      Travel

Nam Dinh and Ninh Binh

8.      Budget

- The contractor will be responsible for paying taxes, if any.

Those who are interested can submit your most updated CV/profile and application letter indicating post title and vacancy notice # and should be addressed to:

Full proposal with estimation of costs, description of technical team, and supporting documents should be received on/or [19 July 2021] and should be addressed to:

Administrative Officer

World Health Organization

UN Building, 304 Kim Ma Street,

Hanoi, Viet Nam

OR

wpvnmapplicants@who.int

For further information on this TOR, please contact:

wpvnmwr@who.int

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