Zonal/ Community DR-TB Consultant (ASCENT DR-TB project)

KNCV Ethiopia

KNCV Ethiopia is a local nonprofit organization established in Ethiopia and registered and accorded legal personality with registry number 7336 as a local organization in accordance with the civil society organization proclamation No 1113/2019. KNCV Ethiopia is dedicated to fight and end human suffering from TB and other related diseases in Ethiopia and support the country toward achieving the global END TB strategy. KNCV Ethiopia works toward contributing in the reduction of TB and related diseases in the country through implementation projects, research, and evidence generation.

Background

Every year around half a million people develop RR/MDR-TB which is a massive public health concern and a burden to the communities. Currently, treatment regimens are longer (9-18 months) with pill burden, toxicity, and a treatment success rate of only around 60%. The newer all-oral regimens have shorter treatment duration (6 – 9 months), less toxicity, and hold the promise to achieve better treatment success rates among eligible RR/MDR-TB/Pre-XDR-TB patients of up to 90%.

The ASCENT DR-TB project is a multi-country project with a plan of supporting the country to create the conditions for successful implementation of the latest recommended shorter treatment regimens and build-up capacity to introduce any future WHO recommendations through self-assessment, gap identification, and prioritizing the identified gaps for technical assistance.

Therefore, the project is designed with goals to contribute to the operationalization of DR-TB regimens as part of a comprehensive care cascade and differentiated supportive people-centred packages of care, to promote and facilitate sharing of experiences and best practices between stakeholders globally, regionally, and between project countries to accelerate implementation and scaling- up of better and shorter regimens for RR/MDR-TB and to contribute to securing a global affordable market for key drugs and secure appropriate equitable access conditions for TB health technology products.

Purpose of the position and organizational position

The project will be implemented in South Ethiopia regional state to support the implementation of the major gap-filling intervention to improve the performance of the treatment initiation centers in the region in terms of Clinical investigation and safety monitoring, aDSM, and engagement of patient support groups, community health workers and community-based or civil society organizations in short DR-TB regimen implementation.

The Zonal/Community DR-TB Consultant is expected to coordinate the community level interventions of this project including the establishment of the patient support groups, coordinate the pilot implementation of the community DR-TB model of care, communicating with the local health offices regarding the community level work and work with the team to attain the project goal.

Place in the organization

The Zonal/Community DR-TB Consultant reports both hierarchically the PMDT technical consultant and functionally to the Executive Director of KNCV Ethiopia.

Profile

As Zonal/Community DR-TB Consultant you will:

• Be on top of the community level activities designed for this project
• Prepare training materials together with the team that are needed for community level interventions of the project including provision of patient support of different types
• Provide cascades of trainings with the team regarding community level interventions of the project including how to provide patient support, community level treatment provision, how to follow patient for AE and SAE at the community level
• Provide continuous support through onsite trainings and supportive supervision to the community level health professionals and treatment supporters
• Familiarize him/herself with the different patient support package that are needed to be given for a patient with DR-TB according to the national treatment guidelines and WHO recommendations
• Work closely with the health professionals and the project team to identify the type of patient support individual patients need to be provided with and at what point do they need it
• Will coordinate frequent site level visits with the regional, zonal, project team, and facility level health professional to assess and understand the level of community level interventions in DR-TB
• Devise feasible strategies on how to address challenges faced by the project for community level implementation
• Establish a patient support group in each TICs and beyond in the community as a people-centered approach to improve the well-being of DR-TB patients and address barriers together with the other team members
• Develop easy to use monitoring tools to be used at the community level to assess the progress made during the project period and beyond
• Create a sense of ownership by the community of the program which will enable sustainability in the future
• Network and collaborate with Zonal and Woreda health officers, community health extension workers and patient groups for the successful implementation of the community level interventions
• Ensure continuous monitoring takes place through virtual meeting platforms and phone call communication with the responsible personnel at the community level throughout the project apart from the onsite monitoring that will take place frequently
• Support and work in line with the national community-based DR-TB care model if the TICs are selected as pilot sites and use the patient’s support group to strengthen the service both at the facility and community level.
• Implement the social support based on the need of individual DR-TB patients at different level of patient’s pathway (cascade of care)
• Work towards achieving the project target
• Other related necessary duties as per the supervisor’s request

Qualifications and experience

• BSc with Master’s degree in Public Health, or any other related fields
• At least 5 years of work experience related to TB
• In-depth knowledge of TB from clinical and programmatic perspectives based on local NTP and WHO policies
• Knowledge on DR-TB is of added advantage
• Experience working in community related TB activities is required
• Experience working in the implementation region is added advantage
• Experience in capacity building of the health professional
• Experience in mentoring and supervision of health facilities
• Skills to use Microsoft 365, virtual meeting platforms, and related software is desirable
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Experience working in non-Governmental organizations is desirable
• Willing to frequently travel to the project site
• Ability to perform tasks both individually and in teams
• Excellent oral and written skills in English and Amharic
• Ability to cope with stress and to organize and prioritize workload
• Diplomatic skills

What does KNCV Ethiopia offer?

• A contract for 6 months, with the intention to extend the contract
• The salary is dependent upon education and relevant working experience