International Consultant to coordinate the Regional Professionals’ Network on HIV testing

Consultancy to coordinate the Regional Professionals’ Network on HIV testing

Individual consultant within “Sustainability of Services for Key Populations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (“EECA”)” project

1. Background information on the project

The EECA is one of the three regions globally where the HIV epidemic is growing. Late HIV diagnosis is common in countries of the EECA region and is often related to late confirmation of HIV test results. It can often take months between the first test and confirmatory test results, and, consequently, people are often lost to follow-up, resulting in delays to treatment initiation.

For the funding allocation 2021-2024, Global Fund country grants emphasize the scale-up of differentiated testing strategies for key populations, especially increased access and uptake of community-based triage testing, self-testing and improving the linkage to care for key populations. However, very few countries have formalized new approaches in their national policies and practices and most do not include technical support for this process in their national grants. Of twelve (12) countries in the EECA region, only Moldova and Kyrgyzstan have updated their national testing strategy/guidelines, while a further four (4) – Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan – have revised their testing strategies to simplify confirmation stages but have retained the Western blot.

Aligning national policies with the latest WHO guidelines on HIV testing services requires a bolder effort towards simplification and decentralization of HIV testing services and decentralization of confirmation of test result services to district and local levels where appropriate. The countries of the EECA region have a strong, but often rigid, vertical and fragmented health system structure inherited from the Soviet system. This creates resistance at central level towards decentralization and integration of services at lower levels of service delivery. Unlike other regions, EECA countries might require a more gradual transition approach in order to consider the potential extra costs and other implications for services.

Therefore, it is critical to ensure preparatory interventions for implementation of changes that may occur through updating HIV testing strategies (including revised functional responsibilities of institutions at different levels, capacity building, etc.).

To address these needs, the Project is supporting the establishment and maintaining of the Regional Professionals’ Network on HIV testing.

The network shall be a regional collaborative platform with a consultative and strategic role in order to update the testing strategies and simplify testing algorithms and to contribute to dissemination of the information on evidence for HTS policies changes in countries.

The aim of the network is to bring together technical resources present at #SoS_project 2.0 countries level and foster rapid exchange of knowledge and practical expertise on updating and simplifying testing strategies, HIV diagnosis and ART initiation, including lessons learned and problem-solving know-how through a collaborative, mutual assistance and positive exchange based approach.

Within the network, participants(members) will be able to exchange experiences, ask questions, take part in discussions, share files, collaborate on documents, exchange and learn from each other on HIV testing.

The activity of the Network will be facilitated through online regular work streams configured on the virtual platform Microsoft Teams and will be led by the Coordinator.

2. Scope of work

The scope of this consultancy is to ensure active support on leading the network and facilitate the work of the intercountry group in the thematic team on HIV testing.

3. Objectives of the assignment

The Consultant is expected to act as a Team Moderator and conduct the following tasks:

• Moderate virtual network of the respective thematic team ensuring effective knowledge exchange among the group members, with a special focus on the real, actionable experience of the participating practitioners;
• Drive conversations and interactivity around the key thematic issues of interest, initiate and keep track of the discussions in the chart rooms/discussion boards, focus the discussion on critical points, provide positive feedback, make sure that the messages are unambiguous, support the discussion with brief summaries of the main points;
• Motivate and create a pleasant climate to facilitate open exchange among practitioners, keep group members engaged, encourage everyone’s active participatory role, to ensure the flow of new ideas and everyone’s contributions;
• Review all content of the discussion forums and provide regular summaries of the issues discussed, posted questions, provided answers and comments;
• Share news and provide updates from the region relevant to the respective thematic area;
• Identify and share available resources relevant to the discussed subjects, compile a repository of relevant materials and links;
• Reach out to external experts to get an expert opinion on controversial issues that may raise;
• Prepare and facilitate thematic webinars with the content focused on topics of interest and participants’ areas of need;
• Keep close coordination with the SoS 2.0 project team, flag any emerging needs for additional technical assistance.

4. Reporting requirements and cooperation arrangements

The consultant will work under the guidance and direct supervision of the Program Coordinator of the PAS Center and report to PAS Center on a quarterly basis.

PAS Center will familiarize the consultant with features and operation of the virtual platform Microsoft Teams.

5. Qualification requirements and basis for evaluation

1. General qualifications (30 points):

• University degree in public health;
• Minimum 5 years of progressive professional experience in the area of HIV.

2. Adequacy for the assignment (50 points):

• Technical expertise gained through experience in the area of HIV
• Experience in design and implementation of HIV testing policies
• A thorough understanding of the HIV testing strategies in EECA region and strategies recommended by WHO
• Working operational knowledge and understanding of online community platform moderation tools (forums, document uploads, commenting, etc.)
• Solid computer literacy and excellent online communication skills

3. Language and other qualifications (20 points):

• Proficiency in Russian and English languages;
• Ability to synthesize complex information and issues;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills;
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with multicultural teams

4. Duration of the assignment

The consultancy is expected from January 2023 to December 2024.

6. Deliverables

The Consultant is expected to produce short reports of the activities carried-out during the respective quarters.