National Professional Officer,Communicable Disease Surveillance & Response (CSR) position no. 250287

Duty Station: Kabul, Afghanistan Organization unit: EMCO Countries (EM_ACO) / EM_AFG WHO Representative's Office, Afghanistan (EM_AFG) Division of Communicable Diseases Control (DCD) / Surveillance, Forecasting and Response Unit (CSR)

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME : To reduce the health, social and economic burden of communicable diseases, by providing policy and technical support to Ministry of Public Health in order to enhance their capacity at all levels to carry out surveillance and monitonng of all communicable diseases of public health importance and achieve the minimum core capacities required by the International Health Regulations (2005) for the establishment and strengthening of alert and response systems for use in epidemics and other public health emergencies of international concern.

Description of duties: Under the direct supervision of the Medical Officer (CSR), the incumbent will be responsible for: 1) Facilitating effective technical surveillance of communicable diseases, data management, analysis and report writing and financial collaboration with Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) for the Disease Early Warning System. 2) Collecting and verifying information on Diseases Early Warning System activities for regular reports to WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO) and donors. 3) Acting as liaison with International Health Regulations (IHR) focal point of MOPH and ensure that all potential Public Health Emergencies of International Concern (PHEIC) are timely reported and assist in monitoring of IHR implementations. 4) Conducting joint monitoring of Diseases Early Warning System (DEWS) sentinel sites and assess gaps in logistics and lab related issues in 4 regions of the country (Hirat, Kandahar, Gardez and Bamyan). 5) Updating communicable disease surveillance guidelines - for diseases other than Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPD) - as new information is available and annually. 6) Assisting in assessing and investigating serious outbreaks of communicable diseases in the country and assist MOPH in coordination with partners internally and externally. 7) Assisting in designing and conducting communicable diseases research with MOPH and publications. 8) Arranging and coordinating in-country and overseas trainings for DEWS surveillance officers.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Essential: University degree in medicine. Desirable: Master's degree in epidemiology and/or public health.

Skills: Competencies: - Ensuring effective use of resources. - Fostering integration and teamwork. - Communicating in a credible and effective way. - Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond. Functional skills and knowledge: 1) Knowledge of public health communicable disease control, planning and policy development, analyzing data, concise reporting, and surveillance of communicable diseases. 2) Managerial skills for the development implementation and analysis of immunization and surveillance projects and activities, including budget programming and control. 3) Strong professional oral and writing skills including the development of reports, oral presentations and technical and advocacy documents. Other skills: Microsoft Office Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook, and internet search engines as well as surveillance databases.

Experience: Essential: At least two years of experience in applied epidemiology and surveillance of diseases. Desirable: Experience in communicable disease control.

Languages: Excellent knowledge of English and local languages.

Additional Information: POST IS OPEN FOR LOCAL RECRUITMENT ONLY. APPLICANTS MUST BE NATIONAL OF THE COUNTRY OF ASSIGNMENT. Applicants are kindly requested to pay attention to the screening questions as they will be used to screen out unqualified applicants. Only qualified applicants with the relevant experience will be considered. A written test/presentation and interviews will be used as a form of screening. The written test might be used as an eliminatory tool. Other similar positions at the same level may be filled from this vacancy notice.

Monthly salary: (Net of tax) US$ 2,653 at single rate

A written test and interviews may be used as a form of screening

Online applications are strongly encouraged to enable WHO to store your profile in a permanent database. Please visit WHO's e-Recruitment website at: www.who.int/employment. The system provides instructions for online application procedures.

All applicants are encouraged to apply online as soon as possible after the vacancy has been posted and well before the deadline stated in the vacancy announcement.