Health Information Systems Associate

Details

Mission and objectives

The World Health Organization (WHO) was established on 7 April 1948 as the directing and coordinating authority in global public health within the United Nations system. The objectives of WHO is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health. Missions of WHO are to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. The Lao People’s Democratic Republic joined WHO on 17 May 1950, when it was one of the Associate States of the French Union. The Republic became independent when French Indochina was dissolved in 1954. The Lao People's Democratic Republic was covered by the WHO Area Representative Office in Saigon, Viet Nam from 1956 to 1 January 1968, when the WHO Representative Office in Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic was established. Before the establishment, the WHO Country Liaison Office was administered by the WHO Representative Office in Saigon. A WHO Country Liaison Office was first established in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in 1962, and it was later expanded into a WHO Representative Office in 1968. The early days were historically challenging for the health sector, but WHO built a strong partnership with the Government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and the Ministry of Health, based on mutual trust. Over the years, the scale and scope of WHO partnerships have grown exponentially. From fewer than 20 staff when WHO opened its first office, to the more than 50 international and national staff members and more than 100 non staff members, WHO maintained continuity and uninterrupted presence as the country underwent political and economic changes.

Context

In Lao PDR, WHO has a total strength of around 100 personnel, supporting the implementation of the of the 9th National Health Sector Development Plan of the Government of Laos. This role will be part of the health systems team which supports the Ministry of Health in building a resilient health system. The role expected is linked to the core function of “monitoring the health situation and assessing health trends”. This UNV assignment is part of WHO’s flagship initiative of supporting the strengthening of Health Information Systems. WHO has been supporting this initiative for over 10 years with a dedicated team and its mandate has grown further to become more important particularly in preparing and responding to COVID-19. The WHO Country Office supports a wide range health information systems strengthening initiatives including development of standards, tools and systems to strengthen data collection, analysis and production of informative reports

Task description

Under the direct supervision of Technical Officer – Health Information Systems, the International UN Specialist Volunteer will: i. Support the Center for Statistics and Health Information of the Ministry of Health in strengthening of the Health Management Information System ii. Support Center for Statistics and Health Information of the Ministry of Health to improve data quality through regular monitoring and use of the Health Management Information System data iii. Produce, disseminate, and promote routine and ad-hoc information products, dashboards, and reports, such as the annual health statistics report iv. Support the Ministry of Health in building data management and analysis capacity v. Support coordination with other sectors to collect data relevant to the health sector for monitoring and reporting on indicator frameworks. This includes climate change data, road traffic accident and suicide data, civil registration data etc. vi. Any other related tasks as may be required or assigned by the supervisor.