National Consultant - Development of an Infection Prevention and Control Plan for Nigeria at Management Sciences For Health - MSH

Job ID: R1063

Background

• The goal of the global five-year USAID Medicines, Technologies, and Pharmaceutical Services (MTaPS) Program is to help low- and middle-income countries to strengthen their pharmaceutical systems to ensure sustainable access to and appropriate use of safe, effective, quality-assured, and affordable essential medicines and pharmaceutical services. MTaPS, implemented by Management Sciences for Health (MSH) and partners, will provide technical assistance primarily to the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Department of Drug Administration (DDA) including other relevant implementing agencies to strengthen pharmaceutical systems including pharmaceutical sector governance, regulatory systems, pharmaceutical management information systems, and improve patient-centered pharmaceutical services and appropriate medicine use.
• Infection Prevention and Control IPC is an essential component of care, and an issue high on the agenda of Health Authorities in Nigeria. It addresses key aspects of infection control in everyday practice, together with more specific considerations in particular aspects of care. An effective IPC program is fundamental to quality healthcare. This is because it has potential benefits of reducing the disease burden on patients, health institutions and the nation as a whole.
• According to the National One Health Strategic Plan 2019–2023, the Government of Nigeria approved the establishment of Nigeria’s national AMR coordinating body at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on November 26, 2016. Following this, a national AMR Technical Working Group (AMR-TWG) was created that comprised stakeholders from the human health, animal health, food animal production, and environment sectors.
• The AMR-TWG’s executive role is played by the national AMR Secretariat, which is responsible for planning, implementing, and monitoring AMR interventions in the country. The AMR-TWG was tasked with conducting a situational analysis of AMR in the country. The findings of this analysis as well as the WHO joint external evaluation of the country’s capacity to implement international health regulations assessment conducted in 2017 highlighted gaps: on IPC, the nonexistence of a national IPC coordinating body and poor budgetary support for IPC activities in health facilities. Nigeria was rated as having limited capacity (level 2) for AMR technical areas including IPC. Results of the situational analysis guided the development of the National Action Plan on AMR 2017–2022 (NAP-AMR).
• With increasing incidence of infectious diseases internationally, healthcare providers need to understand and combat these infections with a view to offering the highest standard of care to all patients in general. There is a fundamental need for a guiding policy and strategic plan. The National Policy for Infection Prevention and Control 2013 is currently being reviewed to reflect evolving epidemiological patterns of infections in the country. To guide the implementation of an effective IPC program in Nigeria, a National IPC strategic plan is required.
• Thus, the AMR TWG Secretariat, with support from USAID MTaPS program, plans to recruit a national consultant to develop a National IPC Plan. With oversight by the NCDC and the USAID MTaPS program, the consultant would lead this work.

Description of Services to be Provided

General Objective:

• The general objective is to develop a national infection prevention and control plan for the country.

Specific Objectives:
Specific Objectives are to:

• Conduct a desk review of IPC program(s) in the country to identify gaps.
• Determine actions to be implemented as well as an assessment of costs, potential sources of funding and stakeholder mapping
• Develop a monitoring and evaluation framework for the national action plan with realistic indicators and milestones

Activities and Tasks:
Development of the methodology:

• The consultant will present to MTaPS and AMR TWG Secretariat his/her methodology for the desk review and plan development process. The methodology should align with best practices of the World Health Organization as appropriate to accomplish drafting of a national action plan that would guide responsible infection prevention and control in the country.
• The consultant will propose a detailed timetable clearly indicating the different stages of the process as well as the dates for submitting the deliverables.
• The validation of the methodology will mark the effective start of this assignment.

Data Research, Collection and Analysis:

• The consultant will take cognizance of the existing documentation in the human health sector at national and international level and relating in particular to: policy, legislative, normative and institutional framework, stakeholders mapping as well as national and international commitments made by Nigeria. This information will be supplemented by data that will be collected from the main players.

Development of the National IPC plan:

• Based on the results of the desk review and stakeholder mapping, the consultant will identify and facilitate the process of developing a national infection prevention and control plan in concert with the MTaPS team and the AMR TWG secretariat, containing the actions to be implemented over the next five years in order to stimulate and sustainably support the adoption of good practices in infection prevention and control. This plan will integrate multi sectoral actions (institutional, technical / technological, capacity building, communication, partnership development, etc.) and will specify the realistic objectives to be achieved in the medium term, the actions to be implemented, the implementing actors, the costs of the actions and of the plan, the sources of financing, the implementation schedule, the monitoring - evaluation indicators, milestones, the institutional mechanism for coordinating the implementation and monitoring.
• At the end of the preparation of the draft infection prevention and control plan, validation workshops will be organized by the AMR TWG Secretariat with the support of USAID's MTaPS Program, facilitated by the consultant, and will allow stakeholders to enrich the document.

Preparation and Facilitation of Workshops:

• As part of the preparation of the various workshops, validation workshop of the preliminary evaluation report and the infection prevention and control plan validation workshop, the consultant will develop and propose to the AMR TWG Secretariat, the TORs, the agenda, the indicative list of participants and the presentations which will be validated by the AMR TWG secretariat. Likewise, the various workshop facilitation tools will be validated by AMR TWG secretariat and MTaPS before each of these workshops is held.

Deliverables:

• At the end of the IPC plan development, the consultant must provide a final report to the AMR TWG Secretariat and MTaPS within five (5) working days incorporating stakeholders recommendations forthe national infection prevention and control strategic plan . Thus, the main expected results of the consultancy are as follows:
• Documented desk review of infection prevention and control program in the country
• Map of identified stakeholders involved in IPC program along with their roles and responsibilities
• Formulated recommendations relating to the management and regulation of IPC
• Draft table presenting the lines of intervention to deal with the main problems identified including costs and potential funding sources defined
• A national IPC plan based on the results of the desk review and recommendations at the stakeholder workshop
• PowerPoint presentations developed and used at the workshops.

Preferred Qualifications / Experiences

• Competence in infection prevention and control and / or public health.
• Profile of the IPC consultant
• Hold a first degree in preventive medicine or medical science and a degree in public health, health economics and / or microbiology would be an asset.
• Justify a professional experience of at least five (05) years in the field of public health
• Have carried out at least one desk review or assessment study of IPC-related situation with recognized structures in Nigeria
• Demonstrate a good knowledge of the “One Health” approach and in the field of IPC
• Have a good knowledge of the field (actors involved in infection prevention and control, the structuring of the regulatory framework)
• Have experience in the development of an integrated multisectoral animal health, public health and environmental health; experience developing an IPC plan highly desirable
• A good knowledge of the IPC system and the functioning of the statutory body would be an asset
• In addition to the above, the preferred expert must also have capacities in the following areas:
  • Provide consultancy references if possible
  • Have the ability to work under pressure, in a team and produce quality results within the prescribed deadlines
• Have a sense of contact and interpersonal communication.
• Have skills in facilitating workshops
• Have the ability to write quality reports
• Have a good command of the English language
• Have a perfect command of computer tools, in particular Windows or Mac and MS-Office