Medical Officer (Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV, Syphilis and Hepatitis B)

The Medical Officer will coordinate the development of evidence-based normative guidance and ensure WHO's leadership on elimination of mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B. The role involves providing technical expertise, capacity building, and coordination with global partners to advance elimination and validation efforts.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate the development of evidence-based normative guidance and ensure WHO's leadership on EMTCT, together with the Department of Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing (LHR).
• Coordinate revision of WHO guidance related to EMTCT, including for monitoring and evaluation, validation, and approaches, identifying baselines, and targets to advance elimination.
• Provide technical expertise and capacity building support to WHO regional and country offices to disseminate and implement new normative guidance and foster south-to-south learning through sharing of best practices.
• Provide technical guidance and support to member states on policy and capacity building for health system strengthening towards integration for elimination and validation, including on monitoring and evaluation related frameworks, human rights commitments, community engagement and gender equity.
• Ensure that early impact and lessons learned on the implementation of guidelines are disseminated at the global level.
• Coordinate the Triple Elimination Initiative for ending paediatric HIV, syphilis and HBV infections globally, utilizing the expert advice and recommendations from WHO designed validation structures at all levels including the Global Validation Advisory Committee (GVAC), regional validation committees (RVCs) and national validation committees (NVCs) in priority countries.
• Coordinate the functioning of the Global Validation Secretariat (GVS) and partnerships for EMTCT validation with other UN agencies and multilateral partners.
• Coordinate revision of EMTCT validation guidance, including for monitoring and evaluation, validation guidelines and approaches, identifying baselines, and targets to advance elimination and its validation.
• Serve as the technical focal point for the EMTCT agenda, including addressing prevention and care responses in non-pregnant adolescent girls and young women, pregnant and breastfeeding women and girls living with HIV or HBV, or seropositive for syphilis, which requires extensive interagency collaboration.
• Serve as the technical lead for critical and timely updates of existing, biomedical EMTCT and infant service delivery guidelines focused on eliminating paediatric HIV, syphilis and viral hepatitis infections.
• Participate as a technical focal point in relevant interagency fora and partnerships on EMTCT and early infant service delivery, particularly in collaboration with UNICEF and UNAIDS.
• Contribute to intra- and inter-departmental efforts to strengthen the integration of EMTCT responses within primary health care and reproductive health platforms.
• Work closely with relevant technical focal points in the department and in the Department of Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing (LHR), to ensure scale up of treatment and care for HIV, syphilis and HBV for pregnant and breastfeeding women living with or seropositive for HIV, syphilis and HBV, and a focus on post-partum service delivery and follow up.
• Provide technical input to WHO efforts to set the research agenda and monitoring and assess trends of HIV, Viral Hepatitis and STIs in infants and children.
• Build and sustain technical and strategic collaboration with other key stakeholders working on paediatric issues with the UN system (UNAIDS, UNICEF), Global Fund, Unitaid and other partners as well as with international NGOs and academic partners.
• Any other tasks as requested by the Unit Head.

Requirements

• Advanced level university degree (MD or equivalent) in Medicine from a recognized institution.
• Advanced level university degree (Masters level or equivalent) in public health, health sciences, communicable diseases, or a related field.
• Additional training or PhD in infectious diseases, preferably related to HIV, STIs, TB or hepatitis (desirable).
• At least seven years of progressive professional experience in infectious disease programmes, with a focus on HIV and/or STI programmes, including policy development, programme implementation, service delivery, and/or research at national and/or international levels.
• Demonstrated international exposure.
• Demonstrated experience in the development and implementation of policies, strategies, and guidelines for communicable diseases, including HIV or STIs, and in the delivery of integrated services for HIV, STIs and related comorbidities and health conditions, including noncommunicable diseases, mental health conditions, and opportunistic infections.
• At least 2 years' experience in providing implementation guidance and technical support in the field of Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission (eMTCT) in LMICs.
• Proven experience collaborating with a wide range of stakeholders, including national governments, implementing partners, civil society organizations, and development partners, to support the adoption, implementation, and scale-up of health policies and programmes.
• Experience in developing and maintaining technical partnerships, documented experience in service delivery settings in LMICs (SRH and MCH) is an asset (desirable).
• Substantial experience working with WHO, the United Nations system, or other international organizations in HIV or STI programme, policy, implementation, and/or technical support (desirable).
• Thorough knowledge of clinical and public health aspects of paediatric HIV, viral hepatitis and STIs treatment and care.
• Ability to follow and evaluate global clinical and operational research and translate evidence into public health recommendations in the context of resource constrained settings.
• Proven ability to develop and update critical policies and guidelines and to write in a clear and concise manner.
• In-depth knowledge of clinical and behavioural approaches in EMTCT and early infant treatment, care and service delivery, and their integration into health care systems, preferably in low-income settings.
• Ability to analyse, coordinate and communicate cohesive actions for the elaboration of policies and strategies, and planning.
• Ability to promote and coordinate actions to ensure community engagement, respect of human rights and gender equity in the EMTCT response.
• Excellent partnership building skills, tact and diplomacy.
• Expert knowledge of English.
• Intermediate knowledge of French (desirable).

Skills

• Infectious Disease Programmes
• HIV Programmes
• STI Programme Management
• Policy Development
• Programme Implementation
• Service Delivery
• Research in Infectious Diseases
• Communicable Disease Guidelines
• Integrated HIV and STI Services
• Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission
• Technical Support in eMTCT
• Stakeholder Collaboration
• Health Policy Adoption
• Technical Partnership Development
• Paediatric HIV Treatment
• Viral Hepatitis Care
• Clinical Public Health
• Operational Research Evaluation
• Policy and Guideline Writing
• Behavioural Approaches in EMTCT
• Community Engagement in Health
• Human Rights in Health
• Gender Equity in Health
• Capacity Building
• Normative Guidance Development

Languages

English, French