District Health Coordinator – Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) – WHO jobs in India

• Location: Chennai, Madras, India
• Vacancy No: N/A 
• Salary: N/A
• Organization: WHO
• Gender: Both
• Deadline:  2024-03-07

Overview of the programme

WHO India Country Office collaborates with the Government of India and relevant stakeholders within the framework of the collaborative Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS), to actively support the development and implementation of national health policies, strategies and plans aiming at promoting access to and utilization of affordable and quality health services and improving financial protection against health-related risks.

The Health Systems Team of the Country Office contributes to providing technical support in developing policies, strategies and activities in the area of health systems strengthening. It broadly entails six building blocks: a sustainable financing mechanism, which averts impoverishment of people due to healthcare costs; sufficient health workforce having right skills and motivation; a reliable health information system for policy and programmatic decision making; well-maintained facilities with adequate medicines and appropriate technologies; robust mechanisms to deliver quality health services, and a robust stewardship to lead and steer the health systems.

Health information systems are vital for monitoring and evaluation of progress towards universal health coverage and achieving the health-related Sustainable Development Goals, national public health decision making, annual health sector reviews, planning and resource allocation and even individual healthcare and service delivery.

A well-functioning Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System, better known as CRVS, uses inputs into and exits from a population register to provide governments with critical information on their population by age, sex and location, on which to develop policies and plan services. Good public health decision-making requires timely, reliable and actionable data on births and deaths, including cause of death, collected through these systems.

WHO country office for India (WHO-India) and Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine (DPH&PM), Department of Health and Family Welfare (DoHFW), Tamil Nadu collaborate for an intervention titled ‘District CRS approach’ to enhance the population-level mortality information at the district level.

WHO is currently looking to engage a full-time ‘District health coordinator – Civil registration and vital statistics’ based in Karur or Krishnagiri to work with the Government of Tamil Nadu and oversee the CRVS operations with focus on causes of death. The assignment requires extensive travel within the state and may also require travel within country as per the need of the assignment.

Underlying Values and Core Functions of WHO:

WHO’s mandate revolves around six (6) leadership priorities specifying (i) advancing universal health coverage (ii) health related sustainable development goals (iii) addressing the challenge of non-communicable diseases and mental health, violence and injuries and disabilities (iv) implementing the provisions of the International Health Regulations (2005) (v) increasing access to quality, safe, efficacious and affordable medical products (vi) addressing the social, economic and environmental determinants of health.

The South – East Asia Region (SEAR) of WHO is made up of 11 countries, with over 1.8 billion people, with India’s population of 1.3 billion. All the Member States of WHO/SEAR (Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Indonesia, Maldives, Timor Leste, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Thailand), share the common value of the highest attainable standard of health as a fundamental human right. All of WHO actions are based on this and rooted in the underlying values of equity, solidarity and participation.

Mission of the WHO Country Office for India:

The mission of WHO India is to improve quality of life of the 1.3 billion people in India by supporting the government in eliminating vaccine preventable and other communicable diseases, reducing maternal and neonatal mortalities, promoting healthy lifestyles, addressing determinants of health, preparing and responding to health emergencies and strengthening health systems for UHC.

The Health Sustainable Developments Goals (h-SDG) have UHC as the overarching goal to achieve all other health related global targets. To achieve UHC, it is widely recognized that investments are needed in national health systems based on a strong primary health care model.

The 2017 National Health Policy reflects the commitment of the Government of India to progress towards UHC. The Ayushman Bharat Program (ABP) aims to address health holistically by expanding a range of essential health services for Comprehensive Primary Health Care (CPHC) through Health and Wellness Centers (HWC) and increasing financial protection through Health Insurance

WHO India is providing technical support to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of India and NITI Aayog, amongst others, on ABP at the national level and select states.

The objective of the initiative is to provide technical assistance to the state government for health system strengthening and contributing towards achievement of UHC and health SDG’s.

In the context of the 13th General Programme of Work and within the framework of the WHO Country Cooperation Strategy (2019-23), the mission of the WHO Country Office is to support India in:

• Accelerating progress on universal health coverage
• Promoting health and wellness by addressing determinants of health
• Better protect the population against health emergencies
• Enhancing India’s global leadership in health

The incumbent will work under the overall guidance of the WHO Representative to India, Deputy Head of WHO Country Office for India, Team Leader (Health systems) and, in close collaboration with the Health Systems team (HS team) of WHO India. Under the direct supervision of the responsible officer for CRVS, S/he will have the following responsibilities in her/his assigned area of work.

Description of Duties:

• Promote collaboration and coordination with all relevant stakeholders, including private healthcare sector for effective planning and implementation of CRVS activities, with more focus on strengthening the causes of death information system.
• Conduct supportive supervisory visits and provide technical assistance to the intervention teams for the ‘District CRS approach’.
• Advocate for, monitor and share information on progress about the implementation status to the Government stakeholders and ensure seamless operations of the District CRS approach.
• Participate and contribute as a technical resource in all relevant CRVS meetings, review meetings and trainings convened by Government of Tamil Nadu, WHO and stakeholders.
• Contribute for seamless implementation of the ICT tools developed for the intervention.
• Review and document good practices and contribute to implementation research initiatives.
• Contribute to data management including data quality assurance, analysis and report writing for all CRVS activities.
• Undertake any other activities/tasks including CRVS-related assignments in other states, as assigned by the supervisor

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED

Education

Essential: A University degree in Medicine (MBBS) registered with medical council of India / state medical council.

Desirable: Post Graduate degree in public health or MD community medicine.

Experience:

Essential: At least one year of demonstrable experience in delivering health care services and implementation of health programs at the district or state level.

Desirable: Work experience in project management, planning and monitoring, CRVS or health information systems.

Applicants having experience in working with government health officials, other health actors and working with UN agencies shall be at an advantage.

Competencies:

1. Teamwork
2. Communication
3. Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
4. Producing results
5. Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond

Functional Skills and Knowledge:

• Good understanding of the Indian health system and health information system.
• Excellent communication, teamwork and coordination skills as well as strong analytical skills and experience with technical reporting.

Language Skills

Essential: Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English and local language (Tamil)

Remuneration:

Monthly remuneration is INR 157,449 taxable as per Indian laws and the appointment will be through Special Services Agreement (SSA) extendable subject to satisfactory performance and continuing need for the function. S/he could be posted anywhere in India as per the project needs.

District Health Coordinator – CRVS is a national of the country (India) in which he/she is to serve, is recruited locally and is not subject to assignment to any official station outside the home country. Only Indian nationals should apply.

Additional Information:

• This Vacancy Notice may be used to fill similar positions at the same level.
• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
• A written test and interviews may be used as a form of screening.
• If your candidature is retained for interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
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• This post is subject to local recruitment and will be filled by persons recruited in the local commuting area of the duty station.
• Any extension of appointment would be subject to programmatic requirements, performance of the incumbent and availability of funds.
• Qualified female candidates are encouraged to apply.

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