Urban TB Advisor

KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation

KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the fight against tuberculosis (TB), still the 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. We are an organization of passionate TB professionals, including doctors, researchers, training experts, nurses and epidemiologists. We aim to stop the spread of the worldwide epidemic of TB and to prevent the further spread of drug resistant TB.

Background

Ethiopia has an estimated TB incidence of 151 /100,000 population (WHO 2019 Global TB Report) yet miss finding one-third of the patients. With a rapid urbanization rate (4.7% per year), TB is becoming a major health-related issue of cities due to the disproportionately higher proportion of key populations at risk for TB who live in urban centers - urban slum dwellers constitute 2.5 million; homeless poor in urban shelters make up about 50,000; over 75% of university students and 43% of inmates reside in the cities. According to WHO’s global TB report (2019), the highest proportion of TB burden is in the age group of 15-34 combined- the age group that is currently migrating to urban areas of Ethiopia especially the capital city living in informal settlements that are prone to TB transmission and with potentially poorer health seeking behavior.

Despite the increasingly challenging TB epidemic in cities, there is no urban TB strategy and the response to TB in urban areas is inadequate - calling for a strategic focus on tackling TB in the cities. Urban community TB using the urban health Extension program (UHEP) and existing community structures as opportunities need to be explored further as one of the major strategies to address urban TB case finding and as a strategy to finding the missing cases. The strengthening of urban community TB service platforms in Ethiopia is paramount to curb the TB epidemic in urban settings of the country.

The Tuberculosis Local Organizations Network (LON) is a USAID funded project designed to fight and end TB effectively and efficiently by partnering directly with local entities within TB priority countries of which Ethiopia is one, to provide accessible services, resulting in increased diagnosis and treatment success rates.

The TB LON Urban project awarded to a consortium of two local NGOs (REACH Ethiopia, the lead, and HIDO) and KNCV Ethiopia is a contract that will focus on finding and referring the missing TB cases in 3 urban administrative settings (Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa and Harari) by using urban community TB approach to increase its contribution of case notification from 3.4% to 20% and ensure improved case notification by finding missed TB cases. The project will also aim to strengthen the organizational capacity of local organizations and TB survivors’ associations and enabling environment for urban TB programming. The primary beneficiaries of the project will be key populations living in urban areas of the three cities. The project will be implemented in collaboration with the Regional Health Bureau (Harari), city administrations (Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa), subcity health departments (Addis Ababa), family health team, the urban health extension professionals, public health facilities, health development armies (HDAs), community associations, Idir, Civil Society Organizations such as former TB patients associations and Network of PLHIV.

Purpose of the position

KNCV is looking for a Urban TB Advisor who will technically advise the achievement of the objectives of the TB LON Urban TB project namely improving the contribution of community TB case finding to urban TB case notification, design of urban TB strategy and capacity development of local NGOs and former TB patients associations.

Position in the organization

The Urban TB Advisor will administratively report to the Country Representative, and technically to the of the Urban TB LON project management unit (led by REACH Ethiopia) while working in close coordination with the KNCV central office teams lead and manager.

Duties and responsibilities

The Urban TB Advisor will:

Technical assistance

• Develop the technical capacity of local NGOs (REACH Ethiopia, HIDO, and former TB patient associations) to enhance their technical capacity to further coordinate and build the capacity of health and community workforce, including urban HEWs on active TB case finding. 
• Provide technical assistance in the orientation/Sensitization of key community-level implementers of urban TB care (UHEWs/Family Health Team). 
• Provide technical assistance in establishing lasting linkage of UHEWs and HDAs and ‘iddirs’ for urban community TB program implementation through the facilitation of the project’s TB outreach officers.
• Serve as a resource person for developing operational plan for community TB care by each HEW team of every catchment community of health centre.
• Support the designing modalities of implementation including standardized operating procedures with specific roles and responsibilities of all actors of urban community TB care (UHEWs, HDAs, patient associations, and iddirs).
• Serve as resource person for TB/HIV comprehensive training and TB program management training (HEW supervisors, sub-city TB focals).
• Technically support Integrated Refresher Training and planning session (UHEWs).
• Technically support the mapping and prioritization of key populations in urban settings (urban slum areas, shelters for elderly and orphans, homeless and others) for targeted interventions.
• Support the development of structured advocacy, communication, social mobilization (ACSM) and demand creation strategy development through collaboration with existing USAID projects.
• Engage in the development of Recording and Reporting (R & R) tools for community TB care.
• Technically assist the establishment/strengthening of civil societies and associations for urban TB response (10 Iddirs, 2 TB survivor associations (notably Organic Health Ethiopia), 10 HIV patient associations).
• Advise on strengthening the health systems and multi-sectoral responses by establishing City TB council and designing multi-sectoral accountability framework at city level.
• Technically support an enabling environment for local organizations’ engagement in TB prevention and care in Ethiopia through advocacy, quarterly consultative workshops and policy briefs.

Knowledge management

• Actively share knowledge and skills with the national, regional, city TB councils and global TB community by

Who are we looking for?

• BSc in public health/MD or any health-related field and Masters’ Degree in Public Health or equivalent
• Minimum 5 years, post qualification experience including working in TB control at national or sub-national level 
• Knowledge and experience in TB program management and implementation especially with urban TB program
• Knowledge and experience of community TB works 
• Experience in capacity development of local NGOs and government counterparts in regards to TB program management
• Experience working on health-related projects in an international organization;
• Experience working with a wide range of stakeholders at local district and regional levels and civil societies and NGOs 
• Candidates with experience in working with the National TB Program and building the capacity of health care workers in TB will be preferred.

Behavioral competencies and skills

• Good interpersonal skills with experience in networking with partners at all levels (ministry, donors, NGOs and local community based organizations);
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in Amharic and English;
• Ability to work as part of a team and independently;
• Ability to cope with a demanding work environment and to organize and prioritize workload. 

What does KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation offer? 

• A contract for 6 months with possibility of extension depending on performance and fund availability;
• An informal work atmosphere in an international environment where a pro-active mentality is appreciated; 
• A highly-motivated team of experienced, self-driven colleagues;
• The salary is dependent upon education and relevant working experience; - KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation has its own Employment Conditions Scheme; - Full-time employment consists of 40 hours per week