Short Term Consultancy (STC) – Support for health data analysis and statistical reporting

Item Description:

The WHO Country Office and the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Vanuatu currently require a consultant with specialist skills in data analysis and report writing to build capacity within the Ministry’s Health Information System (HIS) Unit and to support the unit to prepare data for the 2018 MoH Annual Report and to produce a range of national and provincial statistical reports to assist decision-making at different levels of the health system.

2. Background

Vanuatu is a small pacific island nation of approximately 83 remote islands and a population of just under 280,000 people. There are currently 123 open health facilities across the nation’s six provinces. This includes 6 hospitals, 33 health centres and 84 dispensaries. In addition, 245 Aid Posts are run by communities and staffed by volunteer health workers.

The Vanuatu Ministry of Health’s (MoH) Health Information Unit, with the support of the World Health Organization, has made significant progress in recent years to develop its health information system, in particular, its routine facility-based information system. The implementation and use of the DHIS2 open-source software platform for management and reporting of health information has led to improvements in the timeliness and reliability of information available for decision-making. However, significant challenges remain. Although efforts have been made to reduce fragmentation and duplication and create a single data repository for reporting, collating information from different facilities and public health units remains challenging and there continues to be a lack of data standardization and quality assurance. These issues are being addressed through the implementation of the Vanuatu Digital Health Strategy that maps a pathway to building and integrating clinical, public health and corporate information systems and creating a framework for standardised annual and quarterly reporting to management. A new indicator framework and accompanying data collection forms are in the final stages of development and will be rolled out in 2019, which will inevitably streamline reporting processes.

Part of the digital health strategy also aims to build the capacity of the national and provincial HIS personnel to access data from the system, screen and clean the data for quality assurance, and analyse and interpret the data for preparing annual reports for their managers. Given the challenges outlined above, a consultant is required to provide hands-on assistance to capacity-build MoH HIS personnel to carry out these processes and prepare a range of statistical reports for use by decision-makers.

3. Planned timelines (subject to confirmation)

Start date: 14/01/2019

End date:  12/04/2019

The assignment is expected to be completed in thirteen (13) weeks or approximately sixty-five (65) days (negotiable). The consultant must be able to commence work in early January 2019.

4. Work to be performed

Method(s) to carry out the activity  

The consultant is contracted under the World Health Organization and, from an organizational perspective, her/his activities will be supervised by the Vanuatu WHO HIS Technical Officer. The consultant will receive guidance and direction from the MoH HIS manager and will work closely with HIS officers and their managers. She/he will meet and work with all provincial HIS officers which will likely involve travel to each province.

Activities and outputs 

Working with the WHO HIS Technical Officer and assisting the Ministry of Health HIS team:

1. Collate, analyse and prepare summary health data and statistics using various formats (tables, graphs etc.) for inclusion in the MoH Annual Report
2. Build capacity and assist provincial and national HIS officers in both community and hospital settings to screen, clean, analyse and interpret routine facility-based data for 2018 for inclusion in HIS annual statistical reports
3. Create simple, easy-to-use reporting templates and assist the preparation of HIS annual statistics reports in provincial hospital and community settings.
4. Build capacity and assist the national HIS unit to prepare their annual national HIS Statistics report, ensure figures are consistent and align with information reported in provincial reports.
5. Prepare “Provincial Health Profiles” using a range of data sources to summarise the current health burden, health gains, service gaps and challenges in each province.

Deliverables 

In collaboration with the HIS unit personnel:

• Work plan finalised demonstrating plan to capacity-build HIS personnel and produce reports
• Summary health data and statistics submitted for 2018 MoH Annual Report
• 2018 provincial and hospital reports completed
• 2018 national HIS report completed
• Provincial profiles completed

5. Technical Supervision

The selected consultant will work on the supervision of:

Responsible Officer: Michael Buttsworth, Vanuatu HIS Technical Officer, HII, DHS

Email: buttsworthm@who.int

Manager: Jacob Kool, CLO, Vanuatu Country Office

Email: koolj@who.int

6. Specific requirements

Qualifications required:

Masters Level in Statistics, Public Health, Epidemiology or related fields

Experience required:

• At least five [5] years’ experience working in statistics, public health, epidemiology, health information systems or related health fields
• At least five [5] years’ experience working in developing country contexts
• Previous experience working in Pacific Island countries highly regarded

Technical skills and knowledge:

• Demonstrated experience in health data analysis and reporting
• Demonstrated experience in training and education in health statistics and data analysis

Language requirements:

• Must be fluent in English and able to read/write/speak at an expert level
• Knowledge of Bislama/Pijin/Tok Pisin would be an advantage

7. Competencies

See above technical requirements and experience

Must also have good communication skills and be able to produce results in a challenging and changing environment. Must be respectful of individual and cultural differences and have a positive attitude towards their work.

8. Place of assignment

The selected Consultant will be expected to provide a medical certificate of fitness for work.

9. Medical clearance

The selected Consultant will be expected to provide a medical certificate of fitness for work.

10. Travel

All travel arrangements will be made by WHO. This will include return flights from the consultant’s home base to Port Vila and any domestic flights within Vanuatu deemed necessary to complete the assignment. WHO will not be responsible for tickets purchased by the Consultant without the express, prior authorization of WHO.

While on mission in-country, under the terms of this consultancy, the Consultant will receive subsistence allowance.

Visas requirements: it is the consultant’s responsibility to fulfil visa requirements and ask for visa support letter(s) if needed. WHO country office in Vanuatu will facilitate visa requirements locally through the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

11. Applications

Qualified and interested specialists should submit their CV {for individual contractors} or Company Profile {for institutional applications} and Expression of Interest {cover letter} to the Supply Officer through WP RO UNGM at <wproungm@who.int> by Wednesday, 12 December 2018. The cover letter should outline how their experience and qualifications make them a suitable candidate for this position and should include their proposed daily consultancy fee and availability. Only the successful candidates will be contacted.

Please use Tender Notice No. WPRO/2018-12/HII/TN81325/bb as subject to all submission.