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: https://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, pneumonia, diarrhoea, sexual and reproductive health, cancer and immunization.

In India, WJCF seconded a Technical Support Unit (TSU) to NVBDCP since 2020 to support in health system strengthening by providing analytical and coordination support to national and state officials and partner organizations in the combined effort towards the elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis and Visceral Leishmaniasis. In addition, the team also supports NVBDCP in other VBD diseases including malaria.

Background to the project:

Health campaigns for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD), immunization, infectious diseases, or nutrition, are an essential public health intervention. it is evident that despite a clear strategy and approach, our country will continue to lag in its elimination milestones for neglected disease such as Lymphatic filariasis, unless we address the gaps at the field level implementation of MDAs (Mass Drug Administration). One approach to address the information asymmetry and access to actionable information is by proposing a digital aided MDA campaign. Introduction of digital tools in health campaigns across disease areas by leveraging upon examples that have met considerable success in other public health concerns in the country and outside such as that in the recent time being COVID19 that is the CO-WIN and DIVOC applications.

The overall objective to a proposed future MDA campaign digitalization is to gain a deeper understanding of the landscape and propose the most effective solution that would serve the following purpose in the future of MDAs:

1. Increased coverage by
   • Improved population enumeration and thus clear target settings which will enable efficient micro planning
   • Specialized and contextualized strategy to specific population groups and urban pockets
2. Increased compliance by
   • Providing data on refusals and missed population during the campaign that can be targeted by interpersonal communication to enhance compliance
3. Improved operational efficiency by
   • Reduction in duplication of efforts for family register entries every year by creating digital population databases
   • Providing alerts for missed geographies or demographics
4. Support other health programs in the country by potentially leveraging cross-cutting components of the digital system that would result in cost efficiencies.
5. Improved visibility into campaign effectiveness at block & district level
   • Improved accountability at supervisor & block level officers

WJCF intends to understand and recommend most appropriate and optimal solution to the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) and hence wishes to take services of a Consultant, who would support a senior consultant in co-leading the scoping process within the following broad contours:

1. Provide clear examples and approaches of how health campaigns have been or currently using IT driven technology and approaches in public health programmes with their advantages and disadvantages
2. Draw lesson from the available technology and approaches in relation to Lymphatic Filariasis Mass Drug Administration to include adaptability and scalability
3. Provide complete scope of IT applications and solutions deployed in public health sphere in India with their relative success and challenges
4. Provide clear recommendation on approaches on digitising MDA campaign with regards to framework, architecture and implementation
5. In addition, also provide direction of how the recommended IT approach can be beneficial to other disease verticals in the NVBDCP and other health concerns at large
6. Support and assist the senior consultant

The task requires combination of desk reviews, interviews with key stakeholders and field visits to select geographies at each level of care (primary, secondary, tertiary) in selected states for in-depth scoping

Technology Assessments:

Support the Senior consultant in the following:

• • Carry out a mapping exercise of existing digital tools and platforms being used by the department of health including HMIS or other allied departments in the state.
  • Scoping for urban health digital initiatives with focus on enumeration of the household data.
  • Conduct a review of completeness of data for each data channel particularly the household level data or aggregates in any form from the village level to state level. Assess and provide information on existing digital tools and platforms functional in the state and assessment of availability and functionality of hardware below state level.
  • Review the soundness of existing platforms and tools (e.g. user-friendliness by front line workers, network dependence for full functionality, interoperability with other platforms and tools in the system, completeness of data or numbers).
  • Identify challenges in the current system in terms of data-driven health service provision, monitoring, programming and decision-making.
  • Identify existing gaps between current system and proposed system for the state, including software, hardware, and HR requirements to implement the proposed digital health system.
  • The scoping will provide for a comprehensive list of recommendation to include leveraging existing platforms in the country if appropriate to be able to digitize MDA campaigns in the country.
  • During this scoping period, the requirements for scalability and interoperability of the technology solution with other health programmes is also to be evaluated. Resonating with IDSP/IHIP objective of integration and decentralization of surveillance activities across health programmes, this tool can prove valuable for digitization of surveillance of other programmes as well.

• A post-secondary degree or equivalent experience in computer science, health informatics, health/hospital administration, public health, or business administration, or related field Experience
• Minimum of 1 year of experience working in digital health, especially in government settings.
• Minimum of 1 year of experience in supporting design and rollout of digital health platforms/tools.
• Experience of design and implementation of international best practices in digital health is desirable.

Core and technical competencies:

• Experience in designing and rolling-out large-scale digital health programs
• Experience with health information systems is highly desirable
• Experience reporting to executive-level stakeholders
• Experience working in a national context is highly desirable
• Strong organization skills
• Advanced writing, communication, and presentation skills in English

Duration of contract: 6 months · Starting date: From the date of Signing of Contract · Location: New Delhi, NVBDCP

Reporting to: Project Director/Additional Project Director NVBDCP and Team Leader- TSU, CHAI

DELIVERABLES

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