The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries, while strengthening the capabilities of governments and the private sector in those countries to create and sustain high-quality health systems that can succeed without our assistance. For more information, please visit: http://www.clintonhealthaccess.org

CHAI, in partnership with its India affiliate William J Clinton Foundation (WJCF), works in close partnership with and under the guidance of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) at the Central and States’ levels on an array of high priority initiatives aimed at improving health outcomes. Currently CHAI works across projects to expand access to quality care and treatment for HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis-C, tuberculosis, cancer, sexual and reproductive health and immunisation. Additionally, CHAI is supporting the government of Madhya Pradesh (MP) on large-scale programs to arrest childhood and maternal mortality due pneumonia, malnutrition, anaemia, and diarrhoea.

Nutrition Initiative

Since 2016, WJCF/CHAI has been supporting the state of Madhya Pradesh for developing and executing ambitious new efforts to reduce chronic malnutrition in India. The program’s focus has been on:

• Reducing prevalence of anaemia in adolescent girls and pregnant and lactating women by
  • Strengthening the current Iron and Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation programs,
  • Increasing awareness and knowledge on anaemia amongst frontline workers/ beneficiaries by driving operational excellence of a large field force,
  • Advocating for introduction of fortified staple commodities,
• Reducing prevalence of underweight and stunting among children by
  • Improving and delivering affordable, nutritious food products fortified with the necessary minerals and vitamins,
  • Addressing implementation gaps and enhance program efficiency by introducing scalable technology solutions for supply chain management, and
  • Strengthening community-level systems for monitoring of nutrition indicators and establish a continuum of care and treatment for children with chronic, moderate and severe acute malnutrition.

WJCF/CHAI has been supporting the implementation of this strategy in Madhya Pradesh and expect to serve as a catalyst to inform similar scale-up efforts in other high-burden states. One such state is Punjab, where WJCF/CHAI is planning to support the government in addressing high burden of anaemia among different age groups.

As per NFHS-4 (2015-16), 56.6% of children (age 6 to 59 months) and 53.5% of women (age 15 to 49 years) in Punjab are anaemic1. Further, only 42.6% of mothers consumed Iron and Folic Acid (IFA) supplements for 100 days or more when they were pregnant1. A study conducted in 2014-15 in Amritsar covering 111 pregnant women revealed that several reasons, such as fear, side effects, taste, forgetfulness, among others, inhibited these women in consuming the prescribed dosage of IFA during their pregnancy2. Further, with the advent of COVID-19 pandemic, it has been difficult for the government to provide and ensure adherence of IFA consumption for the beneficiaries. This has been particularly challenging for the school-going children due to closure of schools, which earlier acted as the platform for Weekly Iron Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS).

Role

With the objective of supporting the Government of Punjab (GoP) in addressing anaemia among different age groups, WJCF/CHAI plans to leverage its work in Madhya Pradesh and contextualize its learnings to help GoP in design, implementation, and monitoring of key anaemia control strategies in the state. To this end, WJCF/CHAI is looking for a Consultant who can quickly understand/ scope-out the state context and work closely with the government officials to design and monitor implementation of comprehensive anaemia control interventions. WJCF/CHAI seeks a highly qualified and motivated individual with strong analytical skills, problem-solving ability, and communication skills. The successful candidate will have prior experience of working with government stakeholders and an ability to function independently or with remotely located team members in dynamic and often uncertain situations with a strong commitment to excellence. WJCF/CHAI places great value on relevant personal qualities: resourcefulness, responsibility, tenacity, independence, energy, and work ethic.

[1] National Family Health Survey – 4 (2015-16): State Fact Sheet – Punjab

[2] Singh G, Lal M, Singh S. Utilization of iron folic acid tablets among pregnant women in rural Punjab: an interventional study. Int J Community Med Public Health 2020;7:1307-12

• Support Government of Punjab in strengthening Maternal and Child Nutrition Programs in the state, with a specific focus on addressing anaemia.
• Build strong relationships for CHAI with strategic and key leaders within the state health systems (including but not limited to Department of Health), NGOs, developmental partners, and other relevant allied bodies.
• Hold discussions with government officials and development partners on a regular basis to understand the state’s context and identify key challenges/ areas of improvement in the existing anaemia control programs.
• Develop comprehensive strategies and operational plans for replicating best practices and/ or piloting new approaches and interventions to address the burden of anaemia in the state.
• Access government data systems to identify key data points and develop data visualization tools (bulletins, dashboards, reports, and such others) for government officials to facilitate data-based decision making and reviews.
• Contribute to program strategy by developing purposive insights, visualizations, tools, templates, and planning aids that support in program management.
• Work independently and with the team to comprehensively execute planned interventions while ensuring sustainable and continuous capacity building of key government functionaries.
• Actively engage with CHAI teams in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, and other states where CHAI is supporting implementation of interventions on maternal and child nutrition to leverage learnings and strengthen/ facilitate interventions in the Punjab.
• Support program reporting requirements by facilitating periodic reporting on program implementation status/ progress and key program indicators in the state.
• Travel on short notice to various parts of the state and to other states, if required.
• Perform other responsibilities as requested by program or country leadership.

• Master’s degree in public health, clinical nutrition and dietetics, sociology, social work, public policy, or other relevant areas.
• Work experience of 6+ years in Health Consulting, Public Health, Nutrition, Public Policy/Administration, or other relevant areas.
• Experience of supporting anemia control programs (such as Anemia Mukt Bharat), and/or working with public procurement systems, supply chain, and demand generation efforts in Punjab or any other state.
• Ability to navigate complex government processes and influence decision-making in a professional and collaborative manner.
• Ability to think strategically, handle ambiguity, and problem solve in a fast-paced, limited-structure, multicultural environment.
• Excellent writing and verbal communication skills required.
• Proven experience in mentoring and leading teams in a fast-paced and changing environment.
• Fluency in English and Hindi.

Preferred:

• Deep understanding of the Punjab’s health context.
• Significant government stakeholder management experience would be a strong positive.
• Experience of working on state-wide or national demand generation campaigns for health commodities.
• Prior experience of working in a result driven environment, in the public and/or private sector.