Job Title:  DR-TB Program Specialist (2 NGO Jobs)  

Organisation: Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI)

Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda

About Organisation:

Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) is an independently governed institute within the College of Health Sciences at Makerere University and has the mission “To strengthen health systems in Africa, with a strong emphasis on infectious diseases, through research and capacity development.” IDI has operations across Uganda as well as in a number of other African countries and has a staffing of over 1,000 managing multiple projects in research, clinical services, public health and training.

Job Summary: In collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH) – National TB and Leprosy Division, and the project’s multidisciplinary leadership team, the MDR-TB Program Specialist will be responsible for delivering life-saving services to patients with drug-resistant TB (DR-TB), with a particular focus on clinical and critical care. These services will be provided in alignment with the latest national and global treatment guidelines for DR TB.

The MDR-TB Program Specialist will also work closely with regional implementing partners (IPs), district health teams, and health facilities providing TB and DR-TB care, to ensure the effective integration of DR-TB services into existing health systems. Additionally, the specialist will collaborate with the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Officer to regularly track and report on progress toward programmatic targets for the management of drug-resistant TB.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• • Provide targeted clinical care for people with MDR at targeted DR-TB treatment sites with suboptimal patient care in line with DR TB treatment guidelines
  • Develop and implement annual and quarterly MDR-TB work plans and ensure timely preparation of high-quality periodic project reports.
  • Implement the continuum of care PMDT activities including active case finding, contact management, TB/HIV integration, TB infection control, patient management, logistics management and treatment response monitoring.
  • Take lead on expert DR-TB committee meetings and TB technical working groups to address complex patient management and resolve technical and programmatic gaps in DR-TB diagnosis and treatment.
  • Utilise the TB pharmacovigilance system (active drug safety monitoring and management) and build a health workforce in this area for sustainability purposes.
  • Identify and address priority technical and programmatic gaps in DR TB case finding and management and institute quality improvement measures to mitigate them
  • Report the project’s learning and adaptation agenda, including routine data analysis, innovations, and peer-learning sessions.
  • Work collaboratively with multidisciplinary project teams and national stakeholders to strengthen health systems in areas such as supply chain management, laboratory optimization, use of Ministry of Health tools, and overall organization of PMDT services.
  • Represent the USAID LPHS-TB Activity in national and regional TB, TB/HIV, and DR/XDR-TB technical forums, and at selected international meetings and conferences.
  • Integrate DR-TB services into other health programs to ensure comprehensive, patient-cantered care.
  • Building capacity of frontline care providers at MDR-TB treatment sites with focus on uptake of molecular diagnostic tests, DR TB treatment, response monitoring, and infection control.
  • Perform any other duties as assigned by the supervisor in alignment with the project’s goals and objectives.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• • A degree in Medicine and Surgery (MBChB)
  • A Masters training in Internal Medicine (MMED) or Public Health (MPH) is an added advantage

Person Specification

• Strong oral and written communication skills are required to develop and maintain effective, sustainable working relationships with national and international working partners and to accomplish reporting requirements.
• Demonstrated organizational and abilities, sound judgement, and high ethical standards; flexible and ability to adapt to changing priorities and deadlines.
• Should be in position to handle long distance travels
• strong interpersonal skills