LGA Field Assistant - Adamawa at Malaria Consortium

Background

• Maaria Consortium is one of the world's leading non-profit organizations dedicated to comprehensive control of malaria and other communicable diseases in Africa and Southeast Asia.
• Malaria Consortium works with communities, government and non-government agencies, academic institutions, and local and international organizations, to ensure delivery of effective services, provide technical support for monitoring and evaluation of programmes and activities for evidence-based decision-making and strategic planning.
• The organization works to improve not only the health of individuals, but also the capacity of national health systems, which helps to relieve poverty and support improved economic prosperity.
• The SARMAAN II Project, an acronym for Safety and Antimicrobial Resistance of Mass Administration of Azithromycin among Children 1-59 Months in Nigeria is a large-scale initiative aimed at evaluating the safety and impact of azithromycin mass drug administration (MDA) on antimicrobial resistance and child mortality.
• The project has both an intervention and a research component, which will be implemented across ten states in Nigeria: Sokoto, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kaduna, Jigawa, Zamfara, Bauchi, Gombe and Adamawa.
• The research component will be led by the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) in collaboration with the Federal and State Ministries of Health, national agencies such as Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), and international partners, including the University of Washington, University of California San Francisco, and the Institute for Disease Modeling.
• This research component will focus on monitoring drug safety (Adverse Drug Reactions), antimicrobial resistance, and mortality trends.
• The intervention component will however involve a bi-annual (every 6 months) mass administration of azithromycin to children aged 1–59 months and will be implemented by Malaria Consortium alongside other key partners, including Sightsavers, eHealth Africa, African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET), Mission to Save the Helpless (MiTOSATH), Solina Centre for International Development and Research, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and regulatory bodies such as NHREC and NAFDAC. Malaria Consortium will be implemented directly in Kaduna, Kebbi, Jigawa, Gombe and Adamawa states, while providing oversight to AFENET and MiTOSATH to implement in Katsina, Zamfara, Yobe and Bauchi States.
• The primary goal of SARMAAN II is to explore the potential of azithromycin in reducing under-five morbidity and mortality in Nigeria, where the under-five mortality rate (U5MR) currently stands at 105 deaths per 1,000 live births, and the infant mortality rate (IMR) at 60 deaths per 1,000 live births. By addressing the leading causes of child mortality including respiratory infections, diarrhea diseases, pneumonia, and malaria, the project aims to contribute to significant reductions in morbidity and hospitalization rates. To achieve measurable impact, the consortium is committed to reaching at least 80% coverage of eligible children across all implementing states during the MDA rounds.

Purpose of the assignment:

• The purpose of this Terms of Reference (ToR) is to engage LGA Technical Assistants to support training, Mass Drug Administration (MDA) of Azithromycin (AZM), coordination and supervision at the LGA, reverse logistics, reporting, network assessment and overall personnel management. Adamawa (9) & Gombe (4) states respectively.

Scope

• The role of the LGA Technical Assistants (TAs) is to ensure proper planning, execution, and monitoring of the Mass Drug Administration (MDA) of Azithromycin and reverse logistics at the LGA level in the state.
• They are expected to collaborate with LGA teams, health facility supervisors, traditional leaders, and Officers in Charge (OICs) of all AZM-implementing facilities. These stakeholders are required to adhere to established AZM administration protocols and implementation strategies.
• The TAs will also engage with the State Ministry of Health, the NTD team, and LGA management teams, where applicable, to keep them informed about program progress and to ensure high-quality implementation of activities across the Local Government Areas in the States.

Specific Deliverables for the LGA TA:

• The LGA TA supports the implementation of activities at LGA, health facilities and household level.
• He/she is responsible for planning, implementation, reporting and coordination with local government representatives and community level stakeholders.
• The role of LGA TA assists the quality implementation of delivery of AZM services at the community level by HFW/supervisors and CDDs through the timely delivery of AZM commodities and supplies and documentation of program activities.
• He/she interacts with the LGA management team, keeps them updated on the program progress and ensures high-quality AZM implementation.
• The LGA TA takes instructions from the Program Officer (PO) on the implementation of AZM activities.
• S/he gives feedback to the PO in form of basic documentation and to the M&E Officer in form of data entry for administrative coverage and supply chain management.
• S/he will also support the Finance Officer in getting account details of distribution personnel for payment.
• Ensure the conduct of Mass Drug Administration (MDA) of Azithromycin (AZM) across implementing health facilities (HFs) in the assigned LGA.
• Support last-mile distribution of commodities from the State Central Medical Store (CMS) to the health facilities.
• Support the roll out of robust SBC interventions in the assigned LGA.
• Support the conduct of refresher training for Health Facility Workers (HFWs) and Community Drug Distributors (CDDs) to ensure effective program delivery.
• Monitor and report any issues related to digital HCM and non-compliance with AZM administration protocols to the Command-and-control center and HCM team.
• Manage the delivery of all AZM-related activities assigned by the supervisor.

Reporting:

• Narrative Report to be submitted to the State Program Officer and signed off by the SPM.

Qualifications and Experience

• Science, Social Science, or Public Health-related qualification with at least two years’ field experience in related field.
• Fluency in English, Hausa/Fulani and/or other local languages is required.
• Experience working in drug/commodity supply management, M&E and logistics.
• Ability to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences including LGA staff, HFW and community leaders.
• Must be familiar with the use of Kobo Collect, SurveyCTO, and Microsoft Office suite.
• Experience in conducting quality supportive supervision and data use.