District Coordinator – Sickle Cell Disease
Location: Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Balangir, Sambalpur, Keonjhar and Sundargarh (Odisha)
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.
The William J Clinton Foundation (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). WJCFs 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 been working closely with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, and Departments of Health at the state level since 2007 providing technical as well as operational support to various programs such as COVID-19 disease, hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, vector-borne diseases (lymphatic filariasis and kala azar), syphilis, cervical cancer, diabetes, maternal and childhood anemia, immunization, under 5 diarrhea and pneumonia, sexual and reproductive health, Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) and Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), hypoxemia and oxygen, safe drinking water, sickle cell disease, and climate and health.
Project Background
Odisha is India’s highest-burden states for sickle cell disease (SCD), with significant prevalence among the state’s Scheduled Tribe population. The disease also co-occurs with thalassaemia, with co-inheritance of haemoglobin disorders widely documented among tribal communities in the region.
The Government of India launched a national sickle cell anaemia elimination mission in July 2023 with the goal of eliminating SCD as a public health problem in India by 2047. In alignment with this mission, the Government of Odisha has been progressively strengthening its haemoglobinopathy programme under NHM, including community screening initiatives and efforts to expand access to diagnostic and treatment services across high-burden districts.
To meet the program goals, there is an urgent need to improve access to screening and treatment services for Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassemia, especially among tribal populations. WJCF’s SCD program aims to strengthen health systems to ensure widespread access to quality products and services. The program aims to expand access to SCD diagnostic and management services through technical assistance to the state of Odisha complemented by implementation support in high burden districts.
Position Summary
WJCF is looking for an experienced, highly motivated candidate with experience of leading field operations in the public health sector for the position of District Coordinator. The District Coordinator will actively engage and support programmatic scoping activities and engage with a diverse range of stakeholders in the assigned geographies. WJCF places great value on relevant personal qualities: resourcefulness, responsibility, tenacity, independence, energy, and work ethic.
Responsibilities
- Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders at the district level within the health systems (including but not limited to the Department of Health, Women and Child Development, and tribal department), and other relevant stakeholders to support program implementation.
- Implement programmatic activities at the district/s level, including, but not limited to:
- Assessment of public health facilities to understand readiness, identify gaps in service delivery for Sickle Cell Disease, and share findings with the state lead to inform design of interventions to strengthen delivery of care/services.
- Conducting capacity-building exercises for service providers (including Medical Officers, Staff Nurses and Frontline Workers) on screening, diagnosis and treatment for Sickle Cell Disease.
- Strengthening supply-chain mechanisms to ensure the availability of essential drugs, diagnostics and commodities across facilities as required.
- Strengthening monitoring, reporting and referral mechanisms by supporting the development and ensuring uptake of prescribed reporting and referral structures, as relevant, for health systems/program sites.
- Identify and engage channels to disseminate client-facing IECs to raise awareness/demand generation to ensure timely screening and diagnosis.
- Support in demand generation activities and community mobilization for early screening and treatment protocols for susceptible patients with Sickle Cell Trait/Disease.
- Travel extensively (up to 60-70% of the time) within the assigned program district as well as other districts (occasionally) to visit public health facilities or program sites to assess and monitor progress and extend support in addressing limitations/challenges to program implementation.
- Identify key risks and mitigation mechanisms and identify interventions to strengthen the delivery of care for juvenile diabetes.
- Support program reporting requirements by facilitating periodic reporting on status, progress, key indicators, and program deliverables.
- Other activities, as required, for successful operational roll-out and implementation of the program.
Qualifications
- Over 5 years of experience in public health, preferably in the field of Hemoglobinopathies or RMNCH+A.
- Master’s degree in public health, social work, development studies, management or allied fields.
- Strong government liaising and stakeholder management skills.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint and Word.
- Strong oral and written communication; ability to effectively communicate with government stakeholders.
- Strong fluency in Odia and working knowledge of English is a must.
- Willingness to travel extensively within the state.
Please note that we will be able to communicate only with shortlisted candidates at every stage of selection process. Please note that this is a third-party role.
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