KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation

KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the fight against tuberculosis (TB), the first deadliest infectious disease in the world. KNCV is an international center of expertise for TB control that promotes effective, efficient, innovative and sustainable tuberculosis control strategies in a national and international context.

Background

 The Eliminate Tuberculosis from Ethiopia (ETBE) is a five-year USAID-funded project awarded to Management Sciences for Health (MSH) and its core partner KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation. The goal of the project is to reduce TB incidence and mortality to achieve End TB strategy milestones and targets by increasing the quality, access, utilization, and sustainability of TB services in Ethiopia. The project will support the Government of Ethiopia to target case detection based on prevalence; introduce highly sensitive and specific diagnostic and screening tools; and boost prevention and treatment for latent TB infection. Accordingly, through ETBE the implementing partners will find and treat 484,540 new TB patients and 14,357 MDR-TB patients and achieve treatment success rates (TSRs) of at least 95% for drug-sensitive (DS)-TB and 85% for drug-resistant (DR)-TB and an LTBI treatment target of 450,000.

 ETBE will aim to increase treatment coverage from 69% to more than 90% for drug-susceptible TB and from 46% to more than 70% for drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) cases; maintain the treatment success rate (TSR) above 95% and achieve a cure rate above 90% for DS-TB; and increase the TSR for DR-TB patients to > 85% using the new, all-oral second-line treatment regimens.

Purpose of the position

The regional PMDT (MDR-TB) Advisor is the senior clinical expert who will provide technical support to the Regional Health Bureau (RHB), zonal health departments, and MDR-TB Treatment Centers. S/he will also represent ETBE in regional MDR TB technical working group and clinical review committee meetings. S/he will conduct supportive supervision and provides Continuing Medical Education (CME) for health workers from health institutions supported by the ETBE project. S/he will also participate in preparation of work plans, supportive supervisions, monitoring and evaluation of the project in the respective region.

 Organizational position:

 The regional PMDT (MDR-TB) Advisor reports to the regional manager technically and hierarchically to the Technical Director / Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP). The regional PMDT (MDR-TB) Advisor is part of the regional team.

 Duties and responsibilities

The regional PMDT (MDR-TB) Advisor will:

•  Serve as a resource person for the regional team in matters pertaining to clinical and programmatic management of MDR TB using the nationally approved model of care
• Support RHBs, zonal health departments and treatment centers in the implementation of innovative MDR TB case finding strategies including screening close contacts of index cases
• Ensure adequate clinical and laboratory monitoring of MDR TB patients by coordinating regular clinic appointment days (including MDR TB days) through regular in-person and distance based communication with site clinical team and zonal cluster coordinators
• Coordinate with the GF fund support team to ensure MDR TB catchment area meetings are conducted regularly and patients received nutritional support as per the national standards
• Work with the other regional advisors and the regional government counterparts to ensure consistent high-quality service provision appropriate to the specific tier of services as well as referrals and linkages between each tier, and between the facility/ community.
• Support the regional team in identifying specific barriers to MDR TB case management including factors contributing to poor adherence to treatment and to clinic appointments
• Coordinate MDR TB CME activities and cohort review meetings, prepare clinical case studies, present and actively contribute to the discussions
• Together with the regional M&E team, analyze monitoring and evaluation data and track project indicators as the basis for measuring performance and proposing improvements.
• Participate in the preparation of regional work plans and budgets
• Mentor and graduate PMDT experts at RHBs, zonal health departments and MDR-TB treatment centers
• Performs other activities as assigned by the supervisor

Who are we looking for

 Education

• MD and additional postgraduate qualification in public health or clinical medicine is desired

Knowledge/Experiences

• Minimum of 5 years relevant work experience, including prior experience with MDR TB clinical mentoring
• Hands-on experience in coordinating MDR-TB trainings required
• Previous experience with USAID or other USG funded projects is required
• Operational research experience is a plus
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English
• Willingness to travel frequently

Behavioral competencies and skills

•  Good interpersonal skills with experience in networking with partners at all levels (government, NGOs and local community based organizations);
• Country national preferable, conversant in the local language;
• Ability to work as part of a team and independently;
• Ability to cope with a demanding work environment and to organize and prioritize workload;