Business (External) Title :Senior Technical Officer, Malaria Surveillance
Official (Internal) Title: MM Program Officer II
Location: Yangon, Myanmar
Division: Infectious Diseases, Myanmar Country Program
PATH is seeking a Senior Technical Officer, Malaria Surveillance working under Digital Square.
PATH is a global nonprofit dedicated to achieving health equity. With more than 40 years of experience forging multisector partnerships, and with expertise in science, economics, technology, advocacy, and dozens of other specialties, PATH develops and scales up innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing health challenges.
PATH has an office established in Myanmar in late 2013. The PATH Myanmar Country Program is currently implementing a broad portfolio of activities on a range of health issues including infectious diseases, nutrition, vaccines and immunization systems strengthening, digital health and sexual and reproductive health.
Digital Square is a partnership of the world’s leading digital health experts working together with countries to strengthen digital health systems. In pursuit of our Mission connect health leaders with the resources necessary for digital transformation, Digital Square offers a new way to invest in digital health—providing a space where countries and members of the global community can gather to think big and do good, together. By convening government officials, technological innovators, donor and implementation partners, and others across borders and boundaries in the Digital Square, the organization can grow possibility into reality by focusing on its common goal: connecting the world for better health. Digital Square works in three keyways:
- Co-investment: Digital Square coordinates investments in digital health to maximize the impact of every dollar spent.
- Global goods: Digital Square scales tools and technologies that can be adapted to different countries and contexts.
- Digital market readiness: Digital Square creates digital market readiness by building capacity with governments, local technology developers, and health workers.
Project Information
Digital Square and its donors are working to understand digital technology’s potential to promote generational change in data collection and use in malaria programming and case management. Many countries and national malaria control programs are utilizing digital technologies in many aspects of their programs. To date there is little guidance regarding best practices for implementation of programs that incorporate digital technologies.
Digital Square is supporting a digital community health initiative funded by the US President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) to support the expanded use of digital technologies to enable the increased impact of malaria programming down to the community level, where appropriate. PATH’s Digital Square project implemented the first three phases of this initiative. It began with an Ecosystem Assessment of Digital Community Health and malaria and resulted in an in-depth Country Profile for each of PMI’s 27 focus countries, including Myanmar. The Myanmar Country Profile elucidates the primary aspects of malaria case management, community health worker capacity, governance framework, and IT infrastructure and systems in place to support malaria and febrile illness management. Drawing from Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and workshop discussions with the PMI and other stakeholders, the country profiles include recommended actions to support an implementation strategy for each country. Myanmar is one of the countries approved for phase 4 implementation.
The Senior Technical Officer, Malaria Surveillance will provide technical assistance in strengthening malaria surveillance, monitoring, and evaluation system by harnessing the digital technology of the current tools (Malaria Surveillance System – MSS web-based platform and Mobile case-based reporting) surveillance – MCBRS app). He/ she will collaborate with key malaria stakeholders including but not limited to National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) and World Health Organization (WHO) and the donors – the Global Fund and PMI. The Senior Technical Officer, Malaria Surveillance will report to the Program Manager, Malaria.
Responsibilities:
- Support in strengthening malaria surveillance systems, including digital and data innovations in relation to malaria at the national and sub-national levels.
- Support in developing a national roadmap for transitioning paper-based reports to digital reporting of malaria surveillance systems and optimizing the data flow for malaria case management and surveillance
- Lead the rapid assessment of the malaria surveillance system using WHO’s surveillance assessment tool at sub-national level
- Periodical visits to the field to provide supportive supervision and participate in township coordination meetings
- Communicate, coordinate, negotiate, and manage relationships with national counterparts and key partners in relation to the PATH’s malaria project
- Support the program manager (malaria) in expanding the malaria portfolio of PATH, including advising on country-specific policies, strategies and guidelines on the malaria
- Develop, implement, and manage project work plans, track progress, analyze and communicate project progress to the program manager
- Participate in routine in-country, regional and global virtual meetings on malaria and facilitate decision-making on country-specific strategies and activities
- Oversee the preparation of project reports, analyses, and presentations
- Work closely with other programs of PATH, including finance and administrative staff, to provide regular operational support and oversight as required