Position: Community Coordinator, Tuberculosis
Location: Bihar - Patna
No. Of Opening – 6
Overview:
The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to our mission of saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries. We work at the invitation of governments to support them and the private sector to create and sustain high-quality health systems.
CHAI was founded in 2002 in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic with the goal of dramatically reducing the price of life-saving drugs and increasing access to these medicines in the countries with the highest burden of the disease. Over the following two decades, CHAI has expanded its focus. Today, along with HIV, we work in conjunction with our partners to prevent and treat infectious diseases such as COVID-19, malaria, tuberculosis, and hepatitis. Our work has also expanded into cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and other non-communicable diseases, and we work to accelerate the rollout of lifesaving vaccines, reduce maternal and child mortality, combat chronic malnutrition, and increase access to assistive technology. We are investing in horizontal approaches to strengthen health systems through programs in human resources for health, digital health, and health financing. With each new and innovative program, our strategy is grounded in maximizing sustainable impact at scale, ensuring that governments lead the solutions, that programs are designed to scale nationally, and learnings are shared globally.
At CHAI, our people are our greatest asset, and none of this work would be possible without their talent, time, dedication and passion for our mission and values. We are a highly diverse team of enthusiastic individuals across 40 countries with a broad range of skillsets and life experiences. CHAI is deeply grounded in the countries we work in, with majority of our staff based in program countries.
WJCF is an Indian not-for-profit entity, registered under Section 8 of the Indian Companies Act 2013, and has an affiliation agreement with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI). Our mission is to save lives and improve health outcomes in the country by enabling the government and private sector to strengthen and sustain quality health systems. WJCF has partnered with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and state health departments since 2007, providing technical and operational support across key health priorities, including infectious diseases (COVID-19, hepatitis, HIV, TB, vector-borne diseases), non-communicable diseases (cervical cancer, diabetes, sickle cell disease), maternal and child health (anaemia, immunisation, diarrhoea, pneumonia), sexual and reproductive health, health insurance and digital health (AB PM-JAY, ABDM), oxygen and hypoxemia management, safe drinking water, and climate and health.
Program Overview:
The World Health Organization estimated that 10.7 million people fell ill with tuberculosis (TB) in 2024 and 1.23 million died from it. India accounted for the most people suffering from the disease annually, with 25% of the global cases and 25% of death caused by TB. The National TB Elimination Program (NTEP), headed by the Central TB Division (CTD), MoHFW, is an expansive public health program with the ambitious goal of ending TB in line with the mandate of the Sustainable Development Goals.
WJCF has been supporting the CTD and state health departments of more than 15 states in the mission to end TB. WJCF’s TB program has been operational since 2012, and its interventions address several program areas, including preventive therapies, case detection, access to diagnostics, engagement of the private sector, and more. It also lends technical support to Governments across a range of themes- strategic planning, data analytics, monitoring and evaluation, patient management and delivery of services.
Project Background:
The Central TB Division (CTD) has an ambitious TB Elimination goal and is scaling up case finding and adoption of molecular testing for all presumptive TB cases. WJCF aims to support CTD’s efforts by augmenting their efforts in active case finding, designing optimal strategies for case finding efforts, and assessing the use of technology and novel diagnostic products in India’s public and private health delivery systems.
Open PCR for TB detection potentially enables redeployment and optimal utilization of the RT PCR infrastructure developed during COVID -19 pandemic. Quantiplus MTB FAST Detection Kit (Huwel Lifesciences), is an indigenous open RT- PCR kit for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) in sputum, using Real – Time PCR system.
The kit has been validated by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), licensed by Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and recommended for programmatic use by the National Technical Expert Group (NTEG). Subsequently, the Programme Division has successfully completed a field feasibility study at 10 sites covering various regions of the country.
The current project aims to evaluate performance of Quantiplus MTB FAST Detection Kit in real-world field settings, identify operational challenges, and gather feedback from laboratory staff and clinicians to assess any added value of open RT-PCR kits in complementing existing co-located NAAT platforms.
The key objective of the exercise to demonstrate utility of open RT-PCR kits for TB detection among asymptomatic TB in patients presenting with an abnormal chest Xray.
Position Summary:
WJCF is looking for exceptional candidates to join our Active Case Finding (ACF) program project team as a community coordinator. As part of the ACF grant, WJCF shall undertake a mix of activities, including community health camps and facility-based screening, to augment the tuberculosis case-finding ecosystem, using an ultraportable handheld X-ray machine and Open RT-PCR testing kits. The community coordinator would work with local community leaders and Frontline Workers (FLWs) to be able to effectively mobilise the community in identified locations for the health camps. They will also be liaising with government officials to ensure smooth camp operations.
The ideal candidate will have demonstrated experience executing the responsibilities outlined below, the ability to work independently with minimal supervision, a track record of effective collaboration in team environments, strong interpersonal skills for engaging with community members, and a clear commitment to the program’s objectives and ethical standards. The community coordinator will report to the district supervisor of the concerned district, as well as the camp supervisor.
Responsibilities
- Lead the outreach activity by working with other health workers, TB Champions, and frontline health workers to ensure high footfall during the health camp, thereby maximising the screening of vulnerable populations.
- Ensure combing up the targeted area with effective mobilization, including but not limited to door-to-door awareness generation, communication material placement at high-impact locations, involving key community members/leaders, religious leaders, health workers, teachers, and village key opinion leaders, etc.
- Finalize the campsite and liaise with the concerned person to ensure the camp requirement checklist of resources is present at the campsite, and engage with key stakeholders in the community to ensure smooth camp operations.
- Ensure operationalisation of awareness generation plan and community camp activities as per the communications framework and provide input to improve the overall effectiveness.
- Serve as a spokesperson for the camp - actively work to raise visibility and ensure that the camp activity is effectively presented to the public.
- Bring field-level insights to support the development of appropriate patient education communication literature and provide input to improve the camp operations.
- Contribute local nuances and insights regarding the target audience for the development of behaviour change communication material.
- Ensure data entry at all key touchpoints across the patient journey through the camp. The CC will be responsible for all data collection tools, including registers, camp questionnaire, and project Management Information System (MIS).[AD1]
- Participate in staff meetings and provide input into weekly/monthly reports for the district supervisor.
- Any other jobs assigned as per program need.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree with 2 years of experience in the development sector (public health experience preferred).
- Ability to work independently but coordinate and collaborate with large teams.
- Proven ability to build relationships and engage with a variety of community people.
- Strong communication skills – both written and verbal for large and small groups as well as in-person.
- Prior experience in health camp set-up at the community level will be advantageous.
- Good interpersonal and networking skills, articulate team player.
- Should be willing to travel extensively for project purposes within and outside the respective district.
- Languages: Excellent written and spoken command of English, Hindi and Marathi.
Note : This position is on 3rd Party Payroll
[AD1]Does this mean they will do the data entry? If yes, please mention it. If no, this responsibility seems to overlap with that of DS and CS.