Public Health Officer

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The mission of WHO's Health Emergencies Programme (WHE) is to help countries, and to coordinate international action, to prevent, prepare for, detect, rapidly respond to, and recover from outbreaks and emergencies.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

Overall, the incumbent will set standards and norms, develop and disseminate technical guidance and validate training, resource mobilization and communication materials.

Under the guidance of the Incident Manager, he/she will manage the coverage of all health operations in support to the MOHFW, work with partners and facilitate the implementation of WHO's most effective prevention, control and response measures. Health service delivery:

1. Support national authorities and partners on equipping health facilities with the necessary infrastructure, equipment, drugs, public health laboratories and blood safety, and medical supplies to address the existing and foreseen risks and to prevent the dissemination of infectious diseases within the facilities.

2. Provide technical assistance to MOHFW to standardize the health service delivery with humanitarian health partners, taking into consideration the social and cultural aspects for the effective use and access to services.

3. Ensure continuity of care, particularly for people with chronic disorders, pregnant women, children under five years' morbidities and disabilities, etc., and provide measures to strengthen referral channels.

4. Monitor that health facilities provide quality preventive and curative health care to the affected population and continue to deliver routine essential health services in addition to responding to the cause of the crisis. Make appropriate recommendations.

5. Contribute to the identification and targeting of health inequities and the inclusion of vulnerable groups to ensure equitable access to quality health services.

6. Coordinate the planning and implementation of the technical activities pertaining to quality of care and the health services infrastructure (nursing, pharmacy, laboratory, medicines, vaccines, and medical diagnostic and therapeutic devices, health information system including vital statistics and medical record keeping) and priority programmes based on the needs of affected populations.

7. Support capacity-building and training of local staff on best preventive, diagnostic, control and curative knowledge, practices and standards.

8. Supervise and monitor the upgrading of the Sadar district hospital in Cox's Bazar, including renovation work, delivery and installation of equipment, delivery.

9. Cooperate with internal team members, national authorities, international cooperation agencies, inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, and other relevant stakeholders, in order to develop alliances and networks that promote access to quality health care services for the affected population.

Prevention and control measures:

10. Recommend and guide on relevant courses of actions to be taken to prevent and/or control cause of excess morbidity and mortality.

11. Provide technical assistance on vaccination, enhanced surveillance, vector control, infection control (including personal protection), enhanced sanitation and hygiene, increased provision of water and/or nutrients, prepositioning of drugs and medical supplies, etc.

Communicable diseases: Support the epidemiology and immunization teams in:

12. The planning and implementation of communicable diseases programmes addressing the risk of outbreak and/or health emergency, co-develop action plans for interventions in high-risks groups and recommend measures for special attention.

13. Monitor the early prevention, detection, verification, assessment and investigation of any risks of outbreaks and the dissemination of data related to the occurrence of outbreaks.

14. Manage the rapid response teams responsible for the rapid investigation of alerts, field risk assessments and early response.

15. Support the information systems on communicable diseases and the monitoring of progress towards universal health coverage (UHC) facilitating integration with the national health information systems.

16. Conduct the periodic reporting and treatment of communicable diseases activities.

17. Ensure that the messages are technically sound and socio-culturally appropriate to induce, engage and empower stakeholders in the prevention, mitigation and control of risks.

Coordination role:

18. Support national and local health authorities and partner with UN agencies, international, governmental and nongovernmental organizations/institutions, in respect of the mobilization and coordination of resources, identify needs and funding gaps; encourage donors to fund the overall health sector response to affected populations.

19. Identify urgent technical gaps and training needs in relation to technical standards and protocols for the delivery of key health services to ensure their adoption and uniform application by all health sector partners; identify opportunities of capacity building in collaboration with partners.

20. Ensure appropriate links among humanitarian actions and longer-term health sector plans, incorporating the concept of building back better and specific risk reduction measures.

21. Contribute to the development of a functional information management strategy and mechanism for the coordination mechanism to facilitate information sharing as well as monitoring and reporting, ensure regular updates to partners, donors, government and other stakeholders regular updates, technical reports, bulletins and briefings on the health status of the affected people, response activities, resources mobilization, achievements, challenges and the remedial actions when necessary.

22. In cooperation with other levels of response authorize the release of related information, communications, advocacy products and statements to internal and external partners as well as to the public. Provide information/briefings as required, manage sensitive issues with tact and diplomacy.

Monitoring and evaluation:

23. Coordinate the development, adaptation and implementation of the health sector's humanitarian programme.

24. Coordinate technical assistance and provide expert advice to national authorities in augmenting preparedness and response to emergencies.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential: Advanced university degree (Master's level or above) in medicine, public health, epidemiology, tropical medicine, health systems/services administration or related field. First university degree in medicine or public health from an accredited/recognized institute.

Desirable: Specialized training in emergency management; specific training in humanitarian response.

Experience

Essential: At least seven years of related experience, at the national and international levels, in health operations, with proven experience in managing health emergencies. Related experience in managing human and financial resources.

Desirable:

• Relevant work experience in health emergency and/or outbreak management.

• Related experience in development and implementation of strategies and action plans within WHO and/or UN agencies.

• Experience working with government authorities, relevant nongovernmental, health sector partners and/or other humanitarian organizations.

Functional Skills and Knowledge

• Demonstrated skills in and knowledge of humanitarian response operations and their implementation in emergencies as related to public health, complemented by demonstrated ability to identify and manage difficult situations.

• Proven skills to manage multidisciplinary and multinational staff.

• Comprehensive knowledge of the theory, principles, methods and techniques of public health, communicable diseases and health service delivery.

WHO Competencies

1. Teamwork

2. Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences

3. Communication

4. Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond

5. Creating an empowering and motivating environment

Use of Language Skills

Essential: Expert knowledge of English.

Desirable:

Other Skills (e.g. IT)

Excellent skills in Microsoft Office software applications. Excellent presentation skills.

REMUNERATION

WHO salaries for staff in the Professional category are calculated in US dollars. The remuneration for the above position comprises an annual base salary starting at USD 73,516 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable), a variable post adjustment, which reflects the cost of living in a particular duty station, and currently amounts to USD 2444 per month for the duty station indicated above. Other benefits include 30 days of annual leave, allowances for dependent family members, home leave, and an education grant for dependent children.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade level

• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.

• A written test may be used as a form of screening.

• In the event that your candidature is retained for an interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.

• Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and Manual.

• Staff members in other duty stations are encouraged to apply.

• For information on WHO's operations please visit: http://www.who.int.

• WHO is committed to workforce diversity.

• WHO's workforce adheres to the WHO Values Charter and is committed to put the WHO Values into practice.

• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.

• WHO has a mobility policy which can be found at the following link: http://www.who.int/employment/en/. Candidates appointed to an international post with WHO are subject to mobility and may be assigned to any activity or duty station of the Organization throughout the world.

• Applications from women and from nationals of non and underrepresented Member States are particularly encouraged.