Regional mHealth Developer (m/f)

Context of the post  

Ten years ago, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) showed that it was possible to treat people with HIV/AIDS in resource-poor settings. Since then, there has been a global response to the pandemic that has brought treatment to millions of people.

There is growing evidence that large scale access to HIV treatment and prevention integrated with TB treatment and prevention decreases not only HIV/AIDS related mortality but also overall mortality and even incidence of new HIV infections, which shows the beginning of “reversing” the epidemic. MSF is committed to confronting HIV in its epidemic dimension by seeking innovative operational strategies aimed at reversing the epidemic curve while impacting mortality and morbidity at the community level.

Description

We got evidence that mHealth tools help to increase access to health care, reduce cost and save time. Mobile phones can be a source for patients to better access health services. They can reduce the need for medical human resources in limited resource settings. They can be medical advisors for medical personal with less knowledge or lack of expertise operating in remote areas.

We are planning now to introduce more “mHealth” projects in the southern African region. which help medical teams improve awareness among the population about PMTCT, TB diagnosis & treatment, adherence, health promotion, pharmacy management, data collection and...much more.

To ensure the proper need analysis and develop field applications and implementation and follow-up, a regional mHealth Developer will be recruited.

Reports directly to Logistics Supervisor in cell 6 for overall strategy and priority setting (including ToRs and agenda). For project development and management falls directly under SAMU M&E referent (needs identification, base line, monitoring, OR protocol, evaluation etc...)

Main tasks

I. To develop & implement specific mHealth related activities, following objectives clearly defined by each mission under specific and written ToRs (Terms of Reference).

• Identify problems & needs:

Together with the SAMU, the mission medical team and the cell, identify constraints and problems linked to  health care provision where potentially mHealth applications could improve typical issues such as: patients not collecting results , patients defaulting, adherence problems, data collection constraints , lack of medical HR , difficult pharmacy management for remote health centers, lack of access to medical / diagnostic information.

• Acquire Base line
• Develop an mHealth solution
• mHealth solution implementation

On the basis of validated solutions, introduce the right tools and applications (could be designed in collaboration with partner organizations in close collaboration with medical department) and implement (design, test, train, monitor) tools/applications. Provide the necessary training to the team members to ensure correct implementation.

• Monitoring

Set up a monitoring criteria (qualitative & quantitative data collection). Introduce the monitoring tools for implemented solution and measure impact. Get support, when needed, from SAMU for real and effective Operational Research protocol realization.

• Evaluation and Lessons learned

Evaluate the designed system and tools which were developed to address the specific health problems. Document the lesson learned (as mHealth approach is relatively new in MSF, all the mHealth projects will have lesson learned documented). This will help implement similar solutions in another project.

II. From field perspective and predictable needs, conduct Logistical development & research in the business environment of mHealth.

III. Networking / Active search for partners; mHealth deployment will usually be achieved through partnership with one or several other actors. Usual partners are of course the MoH, as well as national associations of People living with HIV/AIDS, universities, specialized commercial firms or non-profit organization.

IV. Participate actively in the Operational Research activities and support scientific approach to documentation and analysis for eventual publication.

Candidate profile

• Three years of field experience with MSF. Experience as CoTL or at HQ is an asset.
• Experience with Health Databases and Mobile Information Systems is an asset
• ICT background and experience is an asset.
• Willingness and availability to travel and work in different field locations.
• Building relationships, interest in human relations, diplomat & open minded
• Information seeking, handling and sharing, curious, general understanding of HIV/AIDS/TB medical activities, autodidact.
• Strong project management capacity is necessary
• Problem solving and action orientation, creative..
• Autonomous.
• Flexibility and stress tolerance, ability to adapt quickly to different projects
• Fluent English speaking.

Conditions

• Cell 6 delocalized position
• South African national salary and package of benefits
• Definite-term contract for 1 year (extendable)
• Full time position, based in Capetown, > 60% of the time spent in the field, in one of the Cell 6’s missions. Context allows for family.
• Probation period: 3 months
• Starting date: March 2012

Send a CV and cover letter, quoting ‘Regional mHealth Developer’, by 12/02/2012, to Zoya Naidoo, 49 Jorissen Street, 3rd Floor Orion Building, Braamfontein, South Africa,, or by email: zoya [dot] naidoo [at] joburg [dot] msf [dot] org