International consultancy to provide technical support to the national health authority (TABIB) on assessment of current neonatal care in Azerbaijan and development and implementation of strategies for its improvement.

Provide technical support on assessment of current neonatal care and development of strategies for its improvement in Azerbaijan.

For every child, care

Azerbaijan has made certain efforts to strengthen perinatal care for mothers and newborn during last decade as part of prioritization of maternal and child health (MCH) and implementation of state programme on improvement of MCH. Perinatal care concept was developed envisaging regionalization of services and organization of care at three levels with establishment of relevant referral system for risky pregnancies and newborns, including preterm born. 7 perinatal centres were established across the country providing access to tertiary level care at regional level. Investments were made into renovation of infrastructure of maternity wards and perinatal centres, as well as capacity building of relevant healthcare workers. Since 2015 Azerbaijan has shifted to new definition of live birth, now allowing babies from 22 weeks of gestation and 500 gr of weight to expect appropriate resuscitation and care if they have any signs of life, while in the past they were treated just as late miscarriage and provided any care only if survived for 7 days themselves. All the efforts and reforms in perinatal care are accompanied with significant improvement in maternal and neonatal mortality rates. According to UN IGME data neonatal mortality has fallen from 33.5 in 2000 to 10.9 per 1,000 live births in 2019. Maternal mortality has fallen from 47 per 100,000 live births in 2000 to 26 in 2017. However, these figures are still high compared to the country income level and other development indicators. While physical infrastructure is relatively adequate, healthcare workers have limited capacities in managing preterm babies and arrange appropriate referral and transportation in emergency cases. Most of facilities do not provide care according to clinical protocols and the latter are not available for all cases and conditions. Lack of adequately trained professionals at regional and districts levels creates further obstacles in accessing relevant care close to residence and as transportation remains challenging critical cases may die before referral or on the way to Baku. Considering ongoing healthcare reforms and introduction of social health insurance, government is interested in improvement of organization of care in the most adequate and cost-effective way and ensuring quality care availability at regional and district levels. Therefore, national healthcare authority has requested support from UNICEF in comprehensive assessment of current organization of perinatal-neonatal services, including infrastructures, human resources and training gaps, supplies and inventory, transportation and emergency care organization, and development of road map and action plan for improvement of neonatal care in Azerbaijan.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

Provide technical support on assessment of current neonatal care and development of strategies for its improvement in Azerbaijan.

Scope of Work:

• Conduct comprehensive assessment of current situation of neonatal care (perinatal and neonatal services) in Azerbaijan (with in-country visit and field trips to neonatal service providers across country) and identify key areas for improvement, including:

  • Identify organizational bottlenecks of neonatal care at all levels, including service management, provision of care and relevant procedures, emergency care, referral system and transportation, etc.
  • Assess supply of human resources in neonatal care, their skills and knowledge and develop specific recommendations/plan related to revision of training mechanisms and curriculum for relevant doctors and nurses, to be embedded into medical education system

  • Identify equipment and supply gaps in neonatal care and develop required inventory lists (with specifications) for different levels and types of care, related supply chains and training gaps and needs for healthcare providers

• Develop/revise job descriptions, skills mix and required competencies for various types of personnel (neonatologist, neonatal nurse, etc.) working in neonatal service
• Based on above assessments, develop a strategic road map for improvement of quality of neonatal services as part of overall health systems reform and take into the consideration of other MCH services organization and delivery mechanism
• Guide and provide necessary technical support to TABIB and State Agency on Mandatory Health Insurance at the initial stage of implementation of improvement plan in neonatal care and maternity hospitals in Azerbaijan.

 To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have:

-  An advanced university degree in public health, medicine (child health, neonatology), healthcare management or other relevant area;

- Extensive experience in neonatal care organization, management and improvement of quality of neonatal care and personnel professional development;

-  Expertise in assessment of quality of care and experience in similar assessments and development of improvement plans in other countries with similar context.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Interested candidates should  submit the following documents:

- Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system

- detailed technical and financial proposal.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.