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Qualifications

Purpose of consultancy

As DHIS2 is a core public health platform at the Vanuatu Ministry of Health, the WHO Country Liaison Office, Vanuatu is seeking technical assistance for a DHIS2 specialist to support the Health Information and Digital Health agenda of the Vanuatu Ministry of Health with the following objectives:

1. To support the completion of the ongoing implementation of the National Electronic Immunization Registry (NEIR).

2. To automate the birth and death notification between Ministry of Health and Department of Civil Registry and Identity Management (CRIM).

3. To support the design of an early warning system for climate sensitive diseases.

4. To provide broad DHIS2 technical support.

5. To provide technical mentorship to the Digital Health unit at the Ministry of Health

    

The Consultant will work directly with the WHO Health Information and Digital Health Advisor based in Vanuatu.

Background

As the custodian of more than a dozen and growing digital health platforms, the Ministry of Health is one of the Government of Vanuatu’s largest digital stakeholder and a frontrunner in driving public sector digital transformation in the country. These systems generate and manage vast volumes of health data for decision making, span multiple levels of the health system, and demand robust governance, interoperability, and sustained technical capacity.
WHO has been the trusted partner of the Vanuatu Ministry of Health in health information and digital health since the Ministry has gone digital in 2010.  In 2013, the Ministry of Health adopted DHIS2 as the national platform for public health information. Operational since late 2014, the system has undergone several upgrades, including a major technical overhaul and a comprehensive data collection redesign completed in 2023, to enhance data availability for decision-making at all levels. Since then, several other digital health applications have been introduced. These include EWARS and Go.Data for at least 6-disease surveillance modules, along with patient registries for immunization, cancer, and noncommunicable diseases broadening the Ministry’s digital public health portfolio. Furthermore, the country is slowly expanding its HealthNet to improve access to digital health systems in rural health facilities. 
With the support of WHO, the Ministry of Health has also launched the country’s new 6-year Vanuatu Digital Health Strategy 2025-2030 (the “Strategy”).  The Vanuatu Digital Health Strategy 2025–2030 outlines a transformative agenda to modernize the health system through five strategic pillars: (1) Strengthening Health Information, (2) Expanding Universal Health Coverage, (3) Improving Patient Continuity of Care, (4) Building Climate-Resilient Health Systems, and (5) Strengthening Foundational Health Infrastructure. It addresses long-standing weaknesses in paper-based systems, fragmented data management, lack of clinical systems, workforce capacity constraints, and limited digital infrastructure. Priorities include implementing a national electronic health record system, integrating the National ID into health services, expanding telemedicine, digitizing patient archives, adopting AI for clinical decision support, and embedding climate-sensitive surveillance and early warning systems. The Strategy is closely aligned with the Health Sector Strategy 2021–2030 and Vanuatu’s National Sustainable Development Plan.  Several strategic actions outlined in the Strategy are already progressing well, including measures to strengthen the national NCD program, the rollout of management dashboards, and the establishment of a national electronic immunization registry.

Deliverables

Job Description 

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

Output 1: Complete the National Electronic Immunization Registry (NEIR)
Deliverables:

1. Complete the technical implementation of the 1st release of the NEIR system.

2. Support the pilot of the NEIR system.

3. Support the national scale up of the NEIR system.

4. Start the development of the 2nd release of the NEIR system.

Output 2: Automate birth and death notification with civil registry
Deliverables:

1. Assist with the workflow and requirements design, including the technical integration blueprint: data flow maps, APIs, security controls, and error-handling for discrepancies between DHIS2 records and CRIM.

2. Configure DHIS2 Vital Events module, including demographic sync requirements between health and civil registry.

3. Implement the DHIS2 Vital Events module.

4. Assist with the pilot, training, SOPs, and scale-up package.

Output 3: Assist to Design Early Warning System for Climate Sensitive Diseases
Deliverables:

1. Define the target architecture (logical physical) in DHIS2 and between other digital systems and external data providers (e.g., Vanuatu Meteorology and Geohazards Department).

2. Produce end-to-end data flow maps for each priority disease/use case, including data sources, frequency, transformations, storage, and where alerts are generated.

3. Specify the integration approach and interface requirements (APIs, file exchange, messaging options), including error handling, retries, and reconciliation for failed or partial transfers.

4. Develop the application and interoperability specifications suitable for procurement.

Output 4: Broad DHIS2 technical support
Deliverables:

1. Upgrade the Routine Monthly Reporting system from DHIS2 version 2.36.

2. Automate bidirectional data exchange between Go. Data and DHIS2 using documented APIs and agreed interoperability standards.

3. Improve the Ministry’s Executive Dashboard by improving the link between DHIS2 and Power BI.

4. Identify other areas of potential improvement in DHIS2.

Output 5: Technical mentorship
Deliverables:

1. Deliver regular DHIS2 training to build sustainable capacity for second-level technical support within the Ministry’s Digital Health team and the Government Data Centre.

Output 6:  Submission Reports
Deliverables:

1. Monthly progress reports submitted to the WHO Health Information and Digital Health Advisor and WHO Country Liaison Office.

The Consultant will be required to spend the first 3 weeks in Vanuatu. The remainder of the assignment will be conducted remotely.

Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational Qualifications

Essential: University degree in computer science, IT, or public health from a recognized university.
Desirable: Advanced university degree (master’s) in computer science, IT, public health from a recognized university; or certification in DHIS2 configuration and administration.

Experience

Essential: At least 5 years of working experience in the DHIS2 environment.

Desirable:

• At least 3 or more years working with immunization registries.

• At least 3 or more years of working experience in civil registries.

• At least 2 or more years working in climate change related assignments.
   

Technical skills and knowledge

• Proven experience to deliver solutions on agreed schedule;
• Broad understanding of immunization, civil registry, and climate sensitive diseases;
• Strong ability to foster effective working relationships within multidisciplinary teams and adapt to diverse cultural contexts, while maintaining high standards of professionalism; and
• Committed to promoting gender equity and ensuring cultural appropriateness in the design and delivery of services to Member States.
   

Languages:

Essential: Fluency in the English language.
Desirable: Fluency in Bislama or French is an asset.

Competencies

• Ability to effectively work remotely with a team.

• Communicate in a credible and effective way;
• Producing results;
• Moving forward in a changing and innovative environment;
• Fostering integration and teamwork;
   

Location

Port Vila, Vanuatu & Remote

Remuneration (travel costs are excluded)

• Remuneration: Payband level B (USD7,000 - USD9,980 per month OR USD350 - USD499 per day), subject to qualifications and experience.
• Expected duration of contract: 5.5 months
   

Additional Information:

• This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
• A written test may be used as a form of screening.
• If your candidature is retained for interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
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