| Title of the Consultancy: – UNICEF- PEPFAR Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Project Andhra PradeshNo. of Position: – 1 positionDUTY STATION: TelanganaDURATION OF CONSULTANCY: 24 months.CLOSING DATE: 18th July, 2023 1. Purpose of Activity/Assignment:The purpose of this assignment is to provide technical support to the Government of Andhra Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh AIDS Control Society/National AIDS Control Organization to facilitate key interventions in the thematic areas of HIV/AIDs response with a special focus on Adolescents and Children, Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission (PPTCT) of HIV / Elimination of Vertical Transmission of HIV and Syphilis (EVTHS) in the state of AP and other states as per the scope of the project. This is expected to be done through strategy development, capacity building, development of responsive strategies, knowledge management, regular reviews and monitoring.As part of the response to HIV/AIDS, UNICEF HFO is working in close coordination with the Department of Health and Family Welfare in AP, Karnataka and Telangana; WHO and other partners and is actively engaged in the contingency planning and mitigation strategy. The role of the Health Section in UNICEF Hyderabad includes (i) external engagement with State Health departments, WHO, UNDP and SDMAs; (ii) provision of strategic guidance; (iii) facilitation of assessments; (iv) dissemination of relevant knowledge; (v) capacity reinforcement, support development of training packages and (vi) monitoring and evaluation of interventions including knowledge management and documentation. UNICEF through the established mechanism at the state level will continue to provide support to the Department of Health at the state level including the Andhra Pradesh AIDS Control Society (APSACS) to ensure effective coordination, planning and implementation of PEPFAR CDC interventions.Hence, UNICEF proposes to hire a technical consultant for UNICEF -CDC project who would be closely working with APSACS, NACO, AIIMS, the Education Department, CDC implementing partners and other key stakeholders, for taking the overall HIV/AIDS response and agenda forward. The consultant would also provide technical assistance to the sub-partners/consultants working for the project under UNICEF. As this is the third year of the project, many of the successful initiatives/interventions of the project would be strengthened and would be scaleup up to other states based on feasibility. The position would be based out of Hyderabad. 2. Scope of Work:Over the past four decades, India has made considerable progress in ensuring access to HIV/AIDS testing and treatment services with nearly 65% of the approximately 2.4 million people living with HIV (2021) linked to treatment. The country has achieved considerable success in preventing the spread of HIV into a generalized epidemic with low national HIV prevalence among adults (15-49 yrs) at 0.21% in 2021. The latest estimates also outline priority States and districts with a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the country requiring an increased focus on the scale-up of HIV/AIDS services. The strategic document on the national AIDS and STD Control Program phase V (2021-2026) anchoring the national response towards ending the AIDS epidemic outlines the key strategies and activities that will progressively be implemented and strengthened to ensure the 95-95-95 is achieved by 2025. In terms of HIV burden, eight states account for 72% of the estimated PLHIV burden in the country (Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Bihar and Gujarat). Annual new HIV infections declined by 46% (2010-2021), with 62,967 new infections in 2021 and 39% (24.5 thousand) constitute women. Seventy-four per cent of new infections are from twelve states Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Assam, Haryana and Telangana. New HIV annual infections are estimated to be increasing in Tripura, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Sikkim, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu and Mizoram. Estimated AIDS-related deaths declined by 76% between 2010-2021, estimated total HIV-related deaths in 2021 were 41,968.Progress towards the 95-95-95 fast-track HIV prevention, testing and treatment targets will require health system strengthening to overcome key bottlenecks in access to quality HIV/AIDS services to all PLHIV including pregnant mothers (including adolescents), newborn EID and children infected with HIV. Continuum of care from communities, primary health centers and referral facilities providing ART treatment need to be linked so that every HIV positive (including ALHIV), mother and child access testing and care services without stigma and discrimination. UNICEF and PEPFAR- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) along with other partners have been jointly supporting the National AIDS Control Organization and States AIDS Control Societies with focus on the 8 high HIV burden States including Andhra Pradesh to increase access to PPTCT and HIV testing and treatment services for children and adolescents with a focus on increasing awareness, increasing access to care and focusing on ensuring systems strengthening for provision of quality services. The scope of the work is to i) Increase awareness and access to HIV/AIDS and STI services for children and adolescents in AP by strengthening school health program and using existing adolescents program like RKSK ii) Increase awareness and access among adolescents and youth on HIV/AIDS and STI and other comprehensive programs/services available for adolescents through innovative mechanisms leveraging existing programs/resources in AP; iii) Increase national and State systems for pediatric and adolescent HIV/AIDS advocacy, program planning and monitoring. iv) Coordinate the overall UNICEF-CDC project planning, implementation, scale up, monitoring and preparation of the quality activity. v) provide technical assistance in documenting and scale up successful of interventions to other districts and states in India; v) provide technical assistance to the state of Telangana on EVTHS, EPMM etc. as per the needs of Hyderabad HFO health division. UNICEF would provide technical assistance to the AP AIDS Control Society on Pediatric and Adolescent HIV/AIDS program in Andhra Pradesh, will support the acceleration of the State SACS health system strengthening and enhancing linkages and integration of HIV/AIDS services within key national adolescent health programs with technical support from PEPFAR CDC (2020-25). UNICEF and CDC teams at Country Offices and through AP State Office will closely collaborate along with their implementing partners in the planning, implementation and monitoring of this joint initiative in the State of Andhra Pradesh. Partnerships with NACO and APSACS will also be joint platforms through which the two agencies will be collaborating to support the initiative. UNICEF Country Office will closely work through its strong linkages with NACO to support the implementation while UNICEF Hyderabad maintains a strong working relationship with APSACS, AP NHM/MoHFW, the Education Department and AP MHRD towards the implementation of the initiative through existing platforms of collaboration. UNICEF will forge a partnership with the Department of Community Medicine, AIIMS and will work in close collaboration with CDC implementation partners and other stakeholders in AP, professional associations and other government and non-governmental organizations to support the implementation and scale-up of these initiatives in various capacities.For detailed information, please check the complete version of the advert attached below P11 Form |
Apply by: 18 Jul 2023