Clinton Health Access Initiative,Associate, Diagnostics Jobs in Malawi

Closing date: 29 Dec 2016

Founded in 2002 by
President William J. Clinton, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) is a
global health organization committed to strengthening integrated health systems
around the world and expanding access to care and treatment for HIV/AIDS,
malaria and other illnesses. Based on the premise that business oriented
strategy can facilitate solutions to global health challenges, CHAI acts as a
catalyst to mobilize new resources and optimize the impact of t
hese resources
to save lives, via improved organization of commodity markets and more
effective local management. By working in association with governments and
other NGO partners, CHAI is focused on large scale impact and, to date, CHAI
has secured lower pricing agreements for treatment options in more than 70
countries. In addition, CHAI’s teams are working side-by-side with over 30
governments to tackle many of the largest barriers to effective treatment and
care.

In 2006, CHAI signed
an MOU with the Malawi government to strengthen health systems in the most
challenged districts, provide national support to HIV/AIDS drug pricing and
programmatic work, support the pilot and scale-up of prevention of
mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) initiatives, expand access to
Anti-Retroviral therapy for children, strengthen Malawi’s lab system, and scale
up an integrated nutrition program for children. CHAI’s support to Malawi has
expanded to include Human Resources for Health, Vaccines, and Health Financing.

For more
information, visit http://www.clintonhealthaccess.org.

Position Overview:

In 2012 Malawi
adopted viral load testing as the only supported method for monitoring viral
suppression among patients enrolled in ART. To facilitate this decision, in
late 2013, the Ministry of Health adopted dried blood spot (DBS) as the
standard method for collecting viral load samples, making it possible to
decentralize testing to district hospitals and health centers. Malawi went from
doing around 50,000 viral load tests in 2014 to about 229,000 tests in 2016.

During scale-up of
viral load testing CHAI has supported the Ministry of Health with laboratory
resources and technical assistance. As CHAI Malawi seeks to continue its
support to the Ministry of Health’s efforts to provide routine viral load
testing to more than 450,000 ART clients the office is looking for an Associate
to lead a diverse set of activities designed to increase access to viral load
testing and linkage to second-line treatment for people living with HIV in
Malawi.

Additionally, CHAI
is supporting the ministry of health in evaluating, piloting and scaling up
point of care diagnostic technologies for HIV. The country associate will
support Malawi diagnostics team and Ministry of Health in the implementation of
both conventional, laboratory-based diagnostic products and new, innovative
Point-Of-Care (POC) products that bring diagnostics out of the laboratory and
closer to the patient. The associate will work on devising and implementing
innovative strategies for scaling up testing and monitoring programs, which
include Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) and Viral Load (VL) monitoring of patients
on anti-retroviral therapy (ART). The associate will also provide some
technical support and mentorship to CHAI’s Supply Chain Specialist who is
working closely with Ministry of Health to improve the diagnostics supply chain
in Malawi.

The position will
require close coordination with high-level ministry employees, laboratory
managers and technicians, and development partners. Improving service delivery
throughout the continuum of care will require keen analytic ability, robust
problem solving, and superb interpersonal skills.

The Associate
will report to the Diagnostics Program Manager. Specific responsibilities will
include:

Viral Load

Generate
robust models for forecasting demand for VL testing services and support
the ministry’s orders and applications for viral load commodities procured
with donor assistance;
Provide
technical assistance to the Ministry of Health for strengthening and
monitoring the supply chain for reagents, laboratory consumables, and
sample collection materials;
Compile
national viral load testing data and present results to the Ministry of
Health, development partners, and donors;
Organize
trainings for district-level ART mentors in viral load sample collection,
result interpretation, and linkage-to-care;
Oversee
visits to health facilities by mentors to ensure that mentoring activities
affect transformative change, including monitoring visits, liaising with
mentors, and driving accountability at the district health offices;
Conduct
various analyses of bottlenecks and challenges with testing uptake and
linkage to adherence counseling and second line treatment, recommend
solutions to the Ministry of Health and support implementation of these
solutions;
Document
the viral load scale-up process to provide a robust record for policy
makers and to inform CHAI efforts in neighboring countries;

POC
Diagnostics

Oversee
data collection and analysis of ongoing pilots for VL and EID diagnostic
products;
Draft
evaluation and pilot study protocols as required when new products come
into market and require evaluation;
Present
study and program data to in country stakeholders and support
dissemination at international platforms when required;
Support
drafting of study protocols in readiness for IRB review;
Support
quantification and forecasting of commodities for scale up of POC testing;
Organize
trainings for pilot studies and scale up to ensure highest quality of
trained personnel;
Support
mentorship activities for sites using point of care devices;

Cross-Cutting
Activities

Attend
policy meetings and prepare presentations for the ministry and partners;
Advise
the Ministry of Health impartially on policy and technological issues
relating to viral load testing, linkage to treatment, point of care and
other diagnostics in general;
Liaise
with CHAI’s global Laboratory Services Team (LST) on programmatic and
policy issues;
Liaise
with other CHAI Malawi teams to ensure that Malawi programming integrates
into CHAI’s broader work on increasing patients on ART and reducing
mortality;
Work
tirelessly to improve the public health system in Malawi increasing access
for all patients
and ensuring long-term sustainability;
Participate
in fundraising efforts to secure funding for additional program activities
including preparation of concept notes, proposals and budgets
Attend
to other duties as requested by the management team

Other
responsibilities as needed.

Bachelor’s
degree plus 2-3 years of work experience
Fluency
in English; excellent written and oral communications skills
Strong
quantitative capacity, problem solving skills and analytical capabilities
Detail-oriented
with strong organization skills
Ability
to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, set priorities, and work
independently and flexibly with a strong commitment to excellence
Ability
to be effective in high-pressure situations and work in a fast-paced
environment with limited-structural support
Ability
to maintain strong relationships with a variety people and organizations,
including but not limited to high-level Ministry of Health officials,
district health officers, laboratory professionals, partner programmatic
staff, and fellow CHAI employees
High
level of proficiency in relevant computer applications including Microsoft
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint