HEALTH STRENGTHENING FOR HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

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REQUEST FOR CURRICULUM VITAE FOR NCD MONITORING AND EVALUATION OFFICER FOR THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH

KINGDOM OF ESWATINI

Reference Number: SZ-MOH-292698-CS-INDV

1. Project Background

To meet the National Health Sector Strategic Plan’s (NHSSP II 2019-23) policy objective – “build an efficient, equitable, client-centered health system for accelerated attainment of the highest standard of health for all people in Eswatini” – the MOH recognizes the need to invest in health system strengthening to improve the coverage of essential services and the quality of care. Modernizing the foundations of the health system and applying evidence-based improvements are key to achieving better quality care and, through that, reduced child and adult mortality and stunting for human capital formation.

To address key sector challenges in the health sector, the MOH is implementing the HSS4HCDP with the aim of improving the coverage and quality of key reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH), nutrition and non-communicable disease (NCD) services (hypertension and diabetes) in Eswatini. The project focuses on strengthening the health system and ramping up investments in RMNCAH, nutrition and NCD services to address critical human capital challenges, including stunting and child and adult mortality, applying a life course approach. The project includes the following components: Component 1. Improve health service delivery to increase the coverage and quality of health services to build human capital; Component 2. Increase community demand for RMNCAH, nutrition and NCD services; Component 3. Strengthen the MOH’s stewardship capacity to manage essential health and nutrition services and project activities; and Component 4: Contingent Emergency Response Component.

The project is complementary to the Eswatini COVID-19 ERP and is designed to deepen and extend the COVID-19 ERP’s investment impact through focusing on medium-term structural changes and the modernization of the health sector.

1. Background to the assignment

The absence of a structured and sustainable system to collect, analyze and disseminate pharmaceutical data to inform decision making at CMS, has led to some challenges in supply chain management in Swaziland, including high stock out rates. Furthermore, the lack of a system to coordinate and facilitate the standardization of pharmaceutical inventory reports and commodity tracking at health facilities has contributed to the lack of quality and timely data to be used in informing decisions in the pharmaceutical sector. Based on these challenges, the Data Management Unit (DMU) for Central Medical Stores (CMS), was established in April 2010 with the responsibility of planning, tracking, recording, analyzing and reporting for ART commodities then. This led to the introduction of the Logistics Management Information System (LMIS) for ART (a paper-based system). Following the successful implementation of ART LMIS based on improved stock availability at facility level and improved quality data availability for forecasting and quantification as well as for informing key decision making, the Ministry of Health saw the opportunity to scale up the LMIS implementation to include all pharmaceutical data from CMS warehouse until it reaches the patient at health facilities and other distribution points in a standardized and sustainable manner. This led to the gradual introduction of the paper-based FP, TB, Malaria, Lab LMIS and eventually the introduction of NCD LMIS in October 2019 as a pilot to 20 health facilities and eventually scaling up to 64 by 2021.

There is need to scale up the NCD LMIS to all NCD health facilities in the country. Currently there is a shortage of M&E officers to assist the senior M&E Analyst who currently provides oversight of Data Management Unit and overall Monitoring and Evaluation of CMS Supply Chain activities.

The Kingdom of Eswatini has a very high prevalence of risk factors for NCDs, including overweight, obesity and poor diet; as well as a very high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes. The majority of those living with NCDs are currently undiagnosed. The National NCD Clinical Management Unit within the Eswatini MOH is responsible for the operational and technical oversight of service-level interventions to address the burden of NCDs and NCD risks in the Kingdom.

In line with the Government’s vision of Universal Health Coverage and the attainment of the highest possible level of human capital, the NCD Clinical Management Unit is being tasked to deliver an increasing range of services within a limited domestic resource envelope and against headwinds of an increasing dual burden of NCDs and infectious diseases like HIV and TB.

Eswatini has developed an electronic Logistical Management Information System (eLMIS) that provides end-to-end visibility of stocks and movement of goods through the supply chain from the Central Medical Store (CMS) to facilities. A pilot project of the eLMIS was implemented in three (3) health facilities – Pigg’s Peak Hospital, Dvokolwako Health Centre, and Lobamba Clinic before scaling up to 22 facilities in phase-two.  Recent improvement in the supply chain of the CMS includes hiring of staff mainly pharmacists to strengthen supply chain for other programs. Despite the improvements,  a gap still exist in the tracking of requisitions and reporting (R&Rs) of NCD commodities by all health facilities in order to inform decision making. There is a need to collate the R&Rs from all health facilities offering NCD services and check them for quality through making follow up calls and mentorship visits where needed. In addition, there is need for a focal person to lead Data Verification and Mentorship Visits to health facilities to check if the data received through the R&Rs is authentic and reliable. Currently data capture is done by a Data Officer who is supported by Global Health Supply Chain (GHSC-PSM)-Chemonics, and there is no dedicated M&E Officer to check data quality, analyze the data collated, produce reports to all stakeholders, assist facilities with stock management of NCD commodities, and facilitate Data Dissemination through available Data Sharing Platforms. There is also a need of a focal person who will critically look into the reports on a daily basis and assist health facilities that are under-ordering and over-ordering to ensure that they are well stocked. No one is available to do these functions currently and the DMU relies on Regional Logistics Officers (RLOs) supported by GHSC-PSM and Regional Pharmacists to assist with mentorship. However, they oversee a lot of activities in the region, and they are only able to go to each region once a week for all programmes, hence data quality is compromised.

Under the strategic direction of the National NCD Clinical Management Unit, Project Coordination, National M&E Unit and the CMS DMU, the Eswatini MOH is looking for an experienced professional who can support the relevant department to ensure continued supplies of essential NCD commodities in the country. The officer will work with both NCD Pharmacist and CMS Logistics and Transport Officer to track data on distribution, i.e., requisitions that were distributed, and track all indicators for Supply Chain for NCD program. Furthermore, he/she will also work with Regional Pharmacists and Regional Logistics Officer and Regional NCD Focal persons by providing reports to inform improvement plans. Any additional data needed by the quantifying team will be coordinated by this officer for collection.

1. Objectives

The objective of the position is to support the implementation of the LMIS implemented by CMS with a particular focus on NCD programme and the overall monitoring and evaluation, research, and learning framework for CMS. The officer will work in collaboration with various teams within the supply chain management system of CMS.

1. Qualifications and required skills

• Bachelor’s degree in social science; statistics, demography, economics, public health, or a relevant quantitative subject; a Certificate in Supply Chain Management Systems is an added advantage.
• Minimum of three (3) years of professional experience in an M&E position; implementing M&E activities of development projects is an added advantage.
• Familiarity with supply chain processes (e.g., inventory planning, warehouse management)
• Experience in data mining, conducting data quality assessments, data analysis and reporting.
• Experience in managing and providing training to stakeholders and target beneficiaries
• Competence in database software such as MS Office (MS Excel, MS Access, MS Word), Commodity Tracking Systems, SPSS, Stata or equivalent software; experience of maintaining a computerized database is an advantage.
• Ability to work under time pressure and meet deadlines.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and Siswati

1. The period of the assignment and expected completion dates

The duration of the contract will be three (3) years and may be extended for a further period subject to satisfactory performance and availability of funding.

The MOH now invites interested, qualified candidates to indicate their interest in providing technical support and services under this consultancy. Selection shall be on the basis of examination and comparison of the qualifications and experience of the individual candidates as evidenced by their CVs. The selected individual shall be requested to submit a costed offer to undertake the work

APLICATIONS:

Interested consultants should submit a detailed copy of updated curriculum vitae (duties inclusive), references, copy ID and scanned copies of notarized academic or professional certifications. Application should be addressed to:

The Principal Secretary, Ministry of Health; 2nd Floor Ministry of Justice Building, Mbabane. Postal address: The Principal Secretary, Ministry of Health P.O. Box 5; Mbabane, Eswatini.

Electronic applications should be sent to Project Coordinator; shongwelu@gmail.com copy to sncedile@gmail.com and thobiledlamini.1@gmail.com no later than 11.00 hours on 26th May, 2022. All applications will be acknowledged but only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.  Contacts: (00268) 24045514; (00268) 24042431