1. Background

The Vaccine Preventable Diseases Non-Communicable Diseases (VPD) Programme is part of and contributes to the work of the Universal health coverage/Communicable and non-communicable diseases (UHC/UCN) cluster in the World Health Organization African region. The strategic agenda of the cluster is to reduce disease burden in the WHO African Region, by guiding disease control agenda in Africa, and using analytics to inform strategic investments and tailored interventions for disease control, thus contributing through its country support investments to 3 disease control outcomes at country-level: improved disease programme governance; improved interventions coverage; and improved services quality. Investments towards these outcomes are guided by comprehensive whole of society, people-centred, integrated approaches to disease control. The comprehensive whole of society approach entail investments around: (a) coherent implementation of triple response – technical response: implementing diseases specific normative guidance, promoting intervention mixes and deploying medical commodities; health systems response: building capacities of district service delivery systems in disease mapping and stratification, interventions tailoring, and sector/subsector planning; and multi-sectoral response: addressing socio-economic and environmental determinants of diseases through mobilizing non-health sectors, communities and stakeholders; (b) disease control partnership of public and private sectors, health and non-health sectors; and (c) community involvement in targeted high risk communities, focused on managing determinants of diseases, health services demand creation and accountability by local health stewards. The people centred, integrated approaches to disease control involves investments around: (a) integrated guidance on disease control for each health service delivery platform, a move away from stand-alone disease specific guidance; and (b) integrated and efficient disease control investments in strengthening the capacity of appropriate health services delivery platforms through deployment of appropriate technologies and analytics to guide stratification of disease risks across population groups in order to develop and deploy comprehensive packages of interventions appropriate for each population group and health service delivery platform, as well as monitor population access, coverage and impact to leave no one behind.

The specific objectives of the UCN cluster to which the VPD programme contributes, are to: (i) provide leadership on disease control coordination, partnership and resource mobilization; (ii) contribute to the development of WHO disease control technical products, services and tools including adoption of new technologies and innovations; (iii) support generation and use of strategic information for action and decision making including optimizing investment; and (iv) provide or facilitate provision of technical support in deployment of WHO technical products and services and institutional capacity building, including support to national disease programmes and regulatory authorities.

More than 30 years in the making, RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) underwent extensive clinical testing, including a phase 3 trial with over 15 000 children in 7 African countries from 2009-2014. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) issued a positive scientific opinion on the vaccine in 2015, and the WHO position paper on the malaria vaccine recommended a pilot implementation in January 2016. The resulting Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP) was designed to answer outstanding questions related to the public health use of the vaccine, including: 1) the feasibility of administering the recommended 4-dose schedule; 2) the vaccine’s safety in routine use; and 3) the vaccine’s impact in reducing child mortality. The landmark malaria vaccine pilot introductions were launched by the Ministries of Health in parts of Ghana, Kenya and Malawi in 2019 following approval by the respective National Regulatory Authorities.

In just over 2 years since the vaccine was launched by the respective Ministries of Health in the pilot areas, over 800,000 children had received the RTS,S vaccine and were benefitting from this additional malaria prevention. There was good uptake of the vaccine in a relatively short period, signalling strong community demand and health worker acceptance of the vaccine. Key findings from the pilot programme formed a major contribution to the full evidence review of the RTS,S vaccine by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) and the Malaria Policy Advisory Group (MPAG) on 6 October 2021. SAGE and MPAG reviewed full RTS,S evidence available since 2015, including findings from the pilot and other recent RTS,S clinical evidence and studies. The evaluation of the vaccine introduction generated solid evidence that the delivery of RTS,S through routine childhood vaccination programmes is feasible, with high uptake, even during a global pandemic. The vaccine was shown to be safe, and results in substantial public health impact. Furthermore, the vaccine reached more than two thirds of children not protected by an insecticide-treated net, resulting in increased access to malaria prevention tools by vulnerable children, with more than 90% of children receiving one or more effective malaria prevention tools.

On 6 October 2021, WHO recommended the RTS,S malaria vaccine be used  for the prevention of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in children living in regions with moderate to high transmission as defined by WHO. Following the recommendation, Gavi Board approved the establishment of malaria vaccine programme and allocated 155.7 million to the programme for the time period 2022-25. The Ministries of Health of Ghana, Kenya and Malawi have approved the expansion of RTS,S to MVIP comparator areas. Eligible non-MVIP countries are also planning to introduce RTS,S. Consultants are needed to boost the Region’s capacity to support the countries to prepare Gavi funding applications, introduce the malaria vaccine and roll it out.

2. Deliverables

The consultants will work with the VPD team at the AFRO Regional Office, ISTs and individual countries to support and perform the following tasks:

• Work closely with the national governments to support scientific, technical and policy aspects of the malaria vaccine introduction/expansion.
• Facilitate the end-to-end management and support provided to countries for the malaria vaccine introduction in the region.
• Convene and attend Malaria Vaccine Technical Working Group (TWG) or equivalent working group meetings as needed.
• Facilitate the synthesis of data during National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) and other TWG meetings to support decision-making processes.
• Draft a malaria vaccine introduction plan and budget to be reviewed and approved by the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) programme.
• Provide technical assistance on coordination and follow up with designated countries on the implementation of the malaria vaccine introduction plan with provision of regular updates as required.
• Support and coordinate the development and submission of Gavi grant application documents for the introduction/expansion of the malaria vaccine and associated processes e.g. Inter-agency Coordinating Committee (ICC) endorsement, sign off by Ministries of Health and Finance, etc.
• Support the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) to synthesize and update prevalence stratification based on the Global Malaria Programme (GMP) guidance to recommend the districts/areas for initial malaria vaccine introduction.
• Review cold chain readiness at all levels to identify gaps and develop measures to address them.
• Ensure that the distribution of vaccines, data management tools, and information, education and communication (IEC) materials to subnational and health facility levels is done timely and according to the distribution list.
• Provide technical assistance for timely development of training materials and required technical documents for the malaria vaccine introduction
• Follow up and ensure printing of training and IEC materials is completed on time
• Facilitate malaria vaccination orientation including health care worker training.
• Facilitate media seminars at the sub-national level, airing video and audio jingles in both national and local radio and TV stations.
• Support the preparation of national/subnational level launch events.
• Prepare and participate in the introduction readiness assessment (1 month prior to introduction).
• Hold post introduction assessment (2-6 weeks post introduction).
• Review malaria vaccine coverage data monthly or as relevant and devise methods to ensure optimal uptake of the vaccine.
• Participate in teleconferences scheduled weekly or monthly, document and share minutes with participants.
• Support collection of technical and financial reports from subnational levels.
• Write technical report(s).
• Provide support to the immunization program as required.

Deliverables

The following deliverables are expected:

• NMCP and EPI programmes are well coordinated in the countries for the introduction of the malaria vaccine.
• Country policy decision to introduce the malaria vaccine is timely made.
• Malaria stratified data for the countries are made available for disease burden categorization for informing Gavi application for funding.
• Cold chain analysis results including gaps and measures to address them made available for informing Gavi application for funding.
• New vaccine introduction plans developed for supported countries/sub-region/region
• Timely country submission of required technical application documents to Gavi and other partners/donors as per target window of application.
• Technical materials, presentations, training materials for the malaria vaccine introduction are timely completed.
• Weekly updates on the malaria vaccine introduction in supported countries/sub-region/region.
• Detailed technical reports on progress on malaria vaccine introduction in countries/sub-region/region.
• Final mission report.

3. Qualifications, experience, skills, and languages

Educational Qualifications:  

Essential: University degree in the Health Sciences field.

Desirable: Postgraduate degree in Vaccinology, Epidemiology, Public Health or other related public health fields.

Experience

• At least 7 years’ experience in routine immunization including implementation of immunization supply chain and logistics activities with at least 3 years’ experience in new vaccine introduction at national and/or international levels. Experience with malaria vaccine introduction is an added advantage.
• Work experience with  UN agencies, NGOs or  immunization-related organizations.

Skills/Knowledge

• Excellent organizational and analytical skills with the ability to multitask, identify and solve problems.
• Good understanding of public health systems, immunization programs in low- and middle-income countries and primary health care system.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with ability to promote cohesive action and convince officials with tact and diplomacy.
• Excellent teamwork ability and working in a multicultural environment.
• Ability to write in a clear and concise manner and to present scientific information.
• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft applications (e.g. Access, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.).

Languages and level required:

• Academic level speaking and writing in English or/and French. Portuguese speaking and writing ability will be an added advantage.
• Multilingual capacity to support some countries with multiple official languages will be an added value.

4. Location

On site: Congo/Brazzaville (please indicate office and duty station)

Off site:

(please indicate location/address).

On site for insurance purposes: Brazzaville Congo (please indicate location/address). (This is where a duty travel is planned during the assignment)

Duty stations

• WHO Inter-Country Support Team (IST) – East and Southern Africa (Harare, Zimbabwe)
• WHO Inter-Country Support Team (IST) – West Africa (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso)
• WHO Inter-Country Support Team (IST) – Central Africa (Libreville, Gabon)

5. Travel – If travel is involved, full medical clearance is required Indicate here if the consultancy involves travel

Yes, the consultancy involves travel.

A living expense is payable to on-site consultants – please refer to Information Note 08/2019 for details on eligibility.

Based on need, travel to priority countries will be undertaken periodically.

Currency: USD

Work schedule (if applicable): from beginning up to 3 months

Please refer to Information Note 09/2021 for guidance on rates for consultants.

The consultants will be P4 grade, guided by the complexity of the tasks and deliverables, and paid according to the scale of the Organization.

 P4 : 8500 USD per month