Development of Tuberculosis Control Strategy

Project Description:

The Safety and Quality Investment in Livestock (SQIL) project is an eight-year demand-driven project funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that will improve food safety and quality along Georgia’s dairy and beef value chains. From farm-to-fork, SQIL aims to reduce losses, improve food safety and quality, boost competitiveness, productivity and trade within the Georgian dairy and beef market systems. The project achieves these goals through an integrated approach of expanding market access, improving sanitary standards, strengthening postharvest handling and storage, increasing productivity, improving access to finance, and promoting regulatory reforms.

Purpose and Objectives of the Assignment:
The presence of endemic chronic diseases such as brucellosis, tuberculosis, and leucosis threaten the development of the livestock sector in Georgia. Georgia currently has in place a brucellosis prevention and control strategy which is successfully mitigating the spread of brucellosis in the livestock sector but does not have a control strategy in place for tuberculosis.

The SQIL project is seeking an international consultant to support the state veterinary service of the Georgian National Food Agency (NFA) to develop an animal tuberculosis control strategy and action plan for monitoring and mitigating the spread of tuberculosis in Georgia among cattle. The consultant will be responsible for reviewing the existing tuberculosis control measures in place and related legislation, developing in close cooperation with the NFA a tuberculosis control policy and 5-year tuberculosis control plan, and providing training to field veterinarians on conducting tuberculosis skin tests.

Consultant Tasks:
To complete this scope of work, the Consultant is expected to complete the following task:

• Conduct an initial evaluation on the existing situation of tuberculosis and its control measures in Georgia.
• In collaboration with the NFA, draft policy document (control strategy) for tuberculosis prevention and control activities.
• Conduct a presentation of the draft control strategy for relevant stakeholders to obtain feedback.
• Finalize control strategy based on feedback from different stakeholders.
• Conduct training for field veterinarians on conducting tuberculosis skin tests.

Deliverables:
Under this scope of work, the consultant is expected to complete the following deliverables:

• Report on existing situation of tuberculosis in Georgia:
  • Current control measures of tuberculosis
  • Related legislation on prevention and control of tuberculosis
• Inception report for the tuberculosis control strategy that should include at a minimum:
  • General requirements for Georgia’s tuberculosis control program
  • Proposed strategy for Georgia’s national tuberculosis control program 2024-2028
  • Activities and key performance indicators to guide the monitoring and evaluation of the tuberculosis prevention and control
• Presentation of the proposed control strategy to relevant stakeholders to validate the approach and to receive feedback.
• Field training on tuberculosis skin tests for field veterinarians.
  • Conducting and interpreting Single Intradermal Tuberculin test
  • Conducting and interpreting Double Intradermal Tuberculin test
• Drafted tuberculosis control strategy that should include at a minimum the following sections:
  • Executive summary
  • Summary
  • Abbreviations and definitions
  • Introduction
  • Sectoral policy and legislation
  • The current tuberculosis situation in Georgia in animals and humans
  • Ongoing tuberculosis control activities
  • Goal and strategic objective of tuberculosis prevention and control
  • General requirements for a tuberculosis control program
  • General requirements for a tuberculosis eradication program
  • Detailed national tuberculosis control program 2024-2029
  • Activities and key performance indicators to guide the monitoring and evaluation of the tuberculosis prevention and control
• Presentation of the final draft of the tuberculosis control strategy to main stakeholders
• Final tuberculosis control strategy based on feedback from SQIL and the NFA

Requested Skills and Qualifications:
The ideal candidate will present the following skills and qualifications:

• Demonstrated experience in developing policy documents for national or state veterinary services in animal diseases prevention and control.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience working on animal tuberculosis control.
• Experience working in developing or middle-income countries.
• Strong communication and presentation skills required.

Travel:
Travel will be required to complete the scope of work. The number of trips will be agreed upon with the selected Consultant.

Evaluation Criteria:
All received complete applications will be evaluated against the following criteria:

• Background and professional experience in relation to the scope of services requested by the Scope of Work and the Requested Skills and Qualifications (50%)
• Cost competitiveness, reasonableness of proposed daily rate, and value (35%)
• Timeline for completion of the work (15%)

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. No phone calls will be accepted.

Land O’Lakes Venture37 will never ask you for personable identifiable information, and we will never request money or payment during the recruitment or employment process. Please submit any questions or concerns to: [email protected].

Land O’Lakes Venture37 is an equal opportunity employer and an organization striving to help global communities thrive through agriculture. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or veteran status, among other factors. Our culture values a diversity of voices. So bring us your unique experiences, your workstyle, and your dreams — they’ll only make us stronger.