National consultant to support MOH in conduct a review meeting on EMTCT and revise the national guidelines related to hepatitis B

Call for Expressions of Interest and Proposal

Job Title: #012

National consultant to support MOH in conduct a review meeting on EMTCT
and revise the national guidelines related to hepatitis B

1. Background

WHO Global and Western Pacific Region set the targets for elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV, HBV and syphilis by 2030. This is an ambitious target but could be achieved if there is strong political commitment and investment from the government.

In Viet Nam, the National Action Plan (NAP) to eliminate HIV, hepatitis B and syphilis transmission from mother to child (EMTCT) in the period 2018 - 2030 was developed and approved on 29th November 2018 (Decision No. 7130/QD-BYT). The NAP set the goal to elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV, HBV and syphilis by 2030 with specific targets such as 1) reduce HIV new infection in infants to ?50/100,000 newborns or reduce HIV transmission rate from mother to child to <5% in breastfeeding children or <2% if not breastfeeding children; 2) reduce the congenital syphilis to ?50/100,000 newborns; and 3) reduce HBsAg prevalence in children under five year old to ?0.1%.

However, there are challenges during implementation of the NAP. The testing coverage is still low. For example, in 2021, less than 70% of PW had HIV and HBV testing and less than 30% had syphilis testing in the country were tested for HIV, HBV and syphilis, respectively. There is limited data on linkage to prophylaxis and treatment among pregnant women who tested positive with HIV, HBV and/or syphilis. In the case of HIV, only 75% of the estimated number of HIV positive pregnant women received ART. Thus, it is important to conduct a review to document the progression as well as to identify the gaps and barriers that preclude pregnant women in accessing effective intervention to prevent new infection of HIV, HBV and syphilis among newborns.

In March 2024, WHO released a new guideline for the prevention, diagnosis, care and treatment for people with chronic hepatitis B infection in which treatment eligibility and antiviral prophylaxis has been expanded. The new WHO recommendation if implemented will facilitate access to diagnosis and treatment and prevention for HBV by expansion of the eligibility for HBV prevention and treatment especially in the settings where access to HBV DNA testing is limited. The national consultant will provide technical support to MOH to revise the national guidelines on prevention of mother to child transmission of HBV and the national guidelines on HBV diagnosis and treatment.

2. Planned timelines (subject to confirmation)

Start date: 24/5/2024
End date: 30/10/2024

3. Work to be performed

Method(s) to carry out the activity

• Review of implementation of national action plan on EMTCT

Under the technical supervision of WHO technical staff, the national consultant will work closely with the international consultant and MOH counterparts to conduct the EMTCT review.

• Support MOH in revising national guidelines

Under the technical advice and supervision of WHO technical staff, the national consultant will work with national TWG and MOH counterparts to assist MOH in revising national guidelines on prevention of mother to child transmission of HBV and HBV diagnosis and treatment.

Output/s

Output 1: Review the implementation of NAP on MTCT

• Deliverable 1.1: Final report on the review of the national action plan on EMTCT

Output 2: Revising national guidelines on prevention of mother to child transmission of HBV

• Deliverable 2.1: Summary report on updated national recommendations on prevention of mother to child transmission of HBV, HIV and syphilis

Output 3. Revision of national guidelines on diagnosis and treatment of HBV

• Deliverable 3.1: Summary report on updated national recommendations on aft on diagnosis and treatment of HBV

4. Specific requirements

Qualifications required:

• Must have university degree on medicine, public health or social science and have advanced degree (Master or PhD degree) in medicine, public health or relevant areas is ideal.

Experience required:

• Having at least 5 years of working experiences in the areas of HIV, hepatitis and STIs or sexual and reproductive health
• Have good experiences in supporting the implementation of the national EMTCT programme
• Have good experiences in clinical management of HBV including prevention of mother to child transmission of HBV

Skills / Technical skills and knowledge:

• Demonstrated strong technical skills and knowledge on HIV, hepatitis and STIs.
• Good knowledge on prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV, HBV and syphilis.
• Good knowledge strong technical capacity on management of HBV including prevention of mother to child transmission of HBV.
• Good understanding of health system and services delivery with the regards to HIV, viral hepatitis and STIs in Viet Nam.
• Good capacity to work with various stakeholders including MOH, provincial and district health authorities.
• Able to travel to other provinces when required during the contract period
• Ability to plan and prioritise challenging workloads.
• Good teamwork

Language requirements:

• Excellent in communication and writing in Vietnamese and good at speaking and writing in English

Competencies

• Fostering integration and teamwork
• Communicating in a credible and effective way
• Producing results
• Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond

5. Place of assignment

The consultant will not require to work at the office but is expected to participate in field visit, meeting with MOH and stakeholders whenever required.

6. Medical clearance:

A fitness to work clearance is needed.

7. Travel:

The consultant is expected to travel to selected provinces for data collection. Any travel will follow the appropriate WHO rules and regulations for travel and be arranged by WHO.

8. Budget

Please take note of the following when submitting application: the contractor will be responsible for paying taxes, if any.

Those who are interested can submit the following documents:

• Most updated CV and application letter
• Copy of passport
• Copy of education certificates

Please indicate post title and vacancy notice # and should be addressed to:

Administrative Officer
World Health Organization
UN Building, 304 Kim Ma Street
Hanoi, Viet Nam

OR
[email protected]

Before/by 16 May 2024