Company Profile

Population Services International (PSI) is a global nonprofit organization focused on encouraging healthy behavior and increasing the affordability of health products. PSI was founded in 1970 to improve reproductive health using commercial marketing strategies and has expanded to work in over 50 countries in the areas of malaria, family planning, HIV, diarrhea, pneumonia and sanitation. PSI is headquartered in Washington, DC. A hallmark of PSI is a commitment to the principle that health services and products are most effective when they are accompanied by robust communications and distribution efforts that help ensure wide acceptance and proper use. PSI works in partnership with local governments, ministries of health and local organizations to create health solutions that are built to last.

Job Description

Ghana Surveillance Assessment

OVERVIEW

Implementation of a malaria surveillance assessment in Ghana

A strong surveillance system is critical to implementing an efficient and effective malaria program, to monitor disease trends or target interventions to the right places and populations. Various attempts have been made at developing and implementing tools to identify critical surveillance bottlenecks for malaria. In order to provide countries with a single, standardized set of tools that follow best practices and facilitate comparison between geographies and over time, WHO with the support of CHAI and PSI, and in partnership with other global and country level partners, is developing a standardized surveillance assessment toolkit to be endorsed by the global malaria community. The relevant components of the toolkit will be implemented in Ghana to identify country-specific strengths and gaps in surveillance. Results from country-level implementation of the toolkit will help inform country-level surveillance priorities including future activities to strengthening system, key strategies, or potential future investment in malaria surveillance.

The malaria surveillance assessment will be implemented in the following four main phases:

• Phase 1. Country-specific project initiation, which includes discussions with the national malaria program, country partners and key stakeholders involved in surveillance in country to help formulate a country-driven plan for the surveillance assessment.
• Phase 2. Data collection, which includes a desk review, key informant interviews at different levels of the health system, health facility surveys and Data Quality Assessments (DQAs). Prior to data collection, ethical processes will be considered including, data sharing agreement for the desk review and DQAs, IRB review and approval for health facility surveys and additional DQAs, and obtaining informed consent for interviewees.
• Phase 3. Data analysis and output development, which includes analysis of data collected during Phase 2, synthesis of key findings and implications of those findings, and preparation of report for dissemination. 
• Phase 4. Prioritization of recommendations and dissemination, which includes review of findings and collaboration among stakeholders to determine recommendations for future surveillance strengthening efforts. This phase also includes full dissemination of results to all actors involved in malaria surveillance.

The Contractor will be responsible for Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the project implementation in Ghana: data collection and analysis of the surveillance assessment. Work will be conducted in collaboration with PSI and CHAI staff based in Ghana and their respective global technical staff, as well as in-country partners including the NMCP and PMI. The Contractor will report to the PSI Project Lead in country, and will receive oversight from PSI HQ in DC. The assessment will be implemented from August 2020 to July 2021. There may be overlap in the phases (some activities may run in parallel) however should ideally be sequential.

Each phase will include set activities and supportive tools. The toolkit provides a robust, standardized and flexible package of guidance materials, data collection and analysis tools and outcome documents (umbrella term “tools” for all of these) that can be adapted and adopted for each phase and associated activities (Table 1).

Table 1: Summary of the toolkit’s contents organized by phase of implementation and key surveillance activities

*PSI is responsible for Phase 1 and 4

Contractor activities and deliverables:

1. Review all existing documentation and datasets that are relevant to the assessment;
2. Gather further qualitative information from various stakeholders involved in malaria surveillance relevant to the scope of the assessment;
3. Programming of the survey tools into survey CTO for electronic data collection with support from PSI;
4. Collect quantitative indicators relevant to the objectives and scope of the assessment at various levels of the health system across different geographies, including on data quality. This will include health facilities and community health workers. Targeted areas will be defined in collaboration with the NMCP. For the purposes of this proposal and budget, please assume visits to 200 health facilities and associated CHWs.
5. Validation of information gathered in the previous phases of the assessment;
6. Analysis of relevant secondary data to inform indicators not collected during the implementation of provider surveys (e.g. proportion of fever seeking care), and to assess the quality of the report information (e.g. analysis of health information database);
7. Analysis of qualitative and quantitative data collected during the primary data collection activities (e.g. health facility surveys) and/ or at the national level through access to routine malaria surveillance data;
8. Identification of key gaps in the surveillance system and challenges in data quality (completeness, timeliness etc.);
9. Provision of the tablets or smart phones that will be required for data collection;
10. Assist PSI in the development of dissemination material including standardized report and a summary of the key findings.

The abovementioned deliverables should be in the format of a spreadsheet, Word document, PPT or Survey CTO format. Preference for analysis to be completed in Stata.

Communication

• Regular meetings between PSI and Contractor, which may be scheduled in person or remotely, with adjusted frequency depending on deliverable timelines. The objectives of the meeting will be to discuss progress and troubleshoot challenges where relevant.
• Monthly progress reports including successes and challenges during the reporting period.

Proposed Deliverable Timeline

 *These materials are provided within the toolkit

Required Skills or Experience

• Proven previous experience in related fields.
• Firms/Organizations must be registered.