ALIMA in Chad
The history of ALIMA programs in CHAD: Chad faces a complicated security situation given the regular incursions of the former Boko-Haram (current Islamic State in West Africa). ALIMA began its activities in Chad in 2012 in partnership with the Chadian medical NGO Alerte Santé. In 2012, the project established in the N’Gouri health district, in the Lac health region, was implemented thanks to the support of ECHO, UNICEF and WFP. This project continued during 2013 and 2014 during which the emphasis was placed on improving the quality of care, a major challenge in Chad given the difficulties in mobilizing qualified medical skills. In 2015, 6,500 SAM children were cared for, including 724 children suffering from medical complications, hospitalized at the UNT of the N’Gouri District Hospital. In addition, a pediatric component has also been integrated into AS/Alima’s action in N’gouri, making it possible to care for 8,606 children in pediatric consultations and 419 in hospitalization. Due to significant deficiencies in the medical field in the Lac region and the worrying nutritional situation (the WHO alert threshold of 2% has been exceeded), ALIMA/AS will continue its action in the 12 health areas of the District of Ngouri in 2016. From 2016 the project in 2016 supports SAM and MAM children in 12 health areas, to set up a PB-mothers component as well as a wash in Nut component. This volume of activity has continued to increase. Since April 2013, ALIMA/AS has also supported the treatment of SAM in N’Djamena thanks to the support of ECHO. Before the implementation of this ALIMA/AS project, only the Notre Dame des Apôtres dispensary in the South district offered free treatment for malnutrition in the capital. With two years of activities, the project has made it possible to show the extent of the problem of malnutrition in urban areas (in N’Djamena the SAM rate reached 2.8%). In 2015, the project cared for 16,490 SAM children on an outpatient basis, including 3,330 in hospitalizations at the Chad-China Friendship Hospital. A workshop on the management of severe acute malnutrition in urban areas was also organized. In 2016, outpatient treatment of SAM in the first 4 UNAs and hospitalization in 1 UNT will continue. In addition, a training center will be set up within the UNT in order to be able to provide training to doctors, nurses and nutritional workers wishing to strengthen their capacities in the field of SAM management. In these two projects ALIMA/AS work in collaboration with local and national health authorities and numerous training sessions are organized.In addition to these two regular projects, ALIMA and Alerte Santé also implemented two emergency interventions in 2014 to quickly respond to the influx of refugees and returnees from the Central African Republic. In the Gaoui camp, ALIMA/As provided primary care as well as screening and treatment for SAM, thanks to the support of UNICEF. On the other hand, community health and water, hygiene and sanitation activities were carried out in the Doyaba camp, with a hospital component supporting secondary care at the Sarh District Hospital, thanks to the support from the French Embassy. Malnutrition consequently weakens the health of children in addition to exposing them to malaria and diarrhea. In N’Djamena, this results in a significant proportion of diarrhea among SAM children admitted to structures supported by ALIMA and appears to significantly increase the probability of mortality. Faced with the non-existence of alternatives allowing a better understanding of the local epidemiology of diarrheal pathogens, ALIMA is considering the very promising option from 2016-2017 of resorting to the use of qualitative molecular diagnostics through the Biofire system, in the aim of evaluating the infectious causes of acute diarrhea in SAM children with complications, thus improving drug prescriptions and therefore the treatment of these patients. A research project is therefore underway within the UNT of the HATC. Following an evaluation carried out by ALIMA teams from April 25 to May 2, 2018 in Bagassola including a visit to MSF Switzerland mobile clinic sites highlighting the needs in terms of health and nutrition, the gap at the health district level of Liwa and the lack of positioning of humanitarian actors who can resume activities, ALIMA intends to support the Liwa DS in the field of health and nutrition. The objective of the action is to contribute to the reduction of morbidity and mortality among displaced and indigenous populations in the Liwa health district, through the establishment of a mobile clinic and medical and nutritional care for children under 5 years old suffering from SAM.this results in a significant proportion of diarrhea among SAM children admitted to structures supported by ALIMA and appears to significantly increase the probability of mortality. Faced with the non-existence of alternatives allowing a better understanding of the local epidemiology of diarrheal pathogens, ALIMA is considering the very promising option from 2016-2017 of resorting to the use of qualitative molecular diagnostics through the Biofire system, in the aim of evaluating the infectious causes of acute diarrhea in SAM children with complications, thus improving drug prescriptions and therefore the treatment of these patients. A research project is therefore underway within the UNT of the HATC. Following an evaluation carried out by ALIMA teams from April 25 to May 2, 2018 in Bagassola including a visit to MSF Switzerland mobile clinic sites highlighting the needs in terms of health and nutrition, the gap at the health district level of Liwa and the lack of positioning of humanitarian actors who can resume activities, ALIMA intends to support the Liwa DS in the field of health and nutrition. The objective of the action is to contribute to the reduction of morbidity and mortality among displaced and indigenous populations in the Liwa health district, through the establishment of a mobile clinic and medical and nutritional care for children under 5 years old suffering from SAM.this results in a significant proportion of diarrhea among SAM children admitted to structures supported by ALIMA and appears to significantly increase the probability of mortality. Faced with the non-existence of alternatives allowing a better understanding of the local epidemiology of diarrheal pathogens, ALIMA is considering the very promising option from 2016-2017 of resorting to the use of qualitative molecular diagnostics through the Biofire system, in the aim of evaluating the infectious causes of acute diarrhea in SAM children with complications, thus improving drug prescriptions and therefore the treatment of these patients. A research project is therefore underway within the UNT of the HATC. Following an evaluation carried out by ALIMA teams from April 25 to May 2, 2018 in Bagassola including a visit to MSF Switzerland mobile clinic sites highlighting the needs in terms of health and nutrition, the gap at the health district level of Liwa and the lack of positioning of humanitarian actors who can resume activities, ALIMA intends to support the Liwa DS in the field of health and nutrition. The objective of the action is to contribute to the reduction of morbidity and mortality among displaced and indigenous populations in the Liwa health district, through the establishment of a mobile clinic and medical and nutritional care for children under 5 years old suffering from SAM.
MISSION LOCATION: N’Djamena, Republic of Chad (with 80% travel on the ground)
PROTECTION OF BENEFICIARIES AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS
The incumbent of the position will occupy the position of flying laboratory manager; Therefore, criminal record check will be necessary.
Level 3: As part of their duties, the operations support manager will be required to visit programs and be in contact with children and/or vulnerable adults. Therefore, a criminal record check or presentation of a certificate of good conduct will be necessary. In situations where it is impossible to provide a criminal record or a certificate of good conduct, a sworn declaration will be requested.
FUNCTIONAL AND HIERARCHICAL LINKS
He/she reports to the Medical Coordinator
He/she has as technical referent the laboratory and transfusion safety referent headquarters
He/she collaborates with the referring doctors, the care quality manager, the pharmacy manager of the mission.
MISSION
The flying laboratory manager is responsible for defining, implementing and monitoring all laboratory activities and blood transfusion at the project level of his mission in accordance with the protocols accepted by the medical service as well as the protocols and national guidelines of Niger. He (she) will be responsible for training laboratory managers from the Ministry of Health, laboratory technicians as well as clinicians (doctors and nurses) who work in health facilities supported by ALIMA for all aspects related to the laboratory and transfusion practice.
In this capacity, he/she answers all questions relating to collection, transport of samples, analyses, elimination of waste resulting from analyzes as well as hemovigilance.
He/she ensures the supply and availability and quality of reagents and accessories necessary for carrying out analyzes in the laboratory of each project as well as those necessary for transfusion practice.
MAIN ACTIVITIES
- Supervise project laboratory managers
- Train laboratory managers from the Ministry of Health on the use and maintenance of equipment present in their respective laboratories
- Ensure through its managerial expertise to contribute to the development of senior technical staff at the national level in order to implement and monitor all laboratory and transfusion activities at the mission project level
- Ensure compliance of all laboratory tests for patients
- Guarantee the quality of blood products in accordance with international standards and compliance with the national blood transfusion policy
- Identify needs and provide technical support for developing orders
- Coordinate and structure the laboratory activities of each project visited, provide analytical expertise and support to the teams
- Implement preventive maintenance of laboratory equipment
- Strengthen national (local) skills through a training and coaching plan.
- Propose avenues for improvement in laboratory service processes
- Organize the teams and the circuit within each laboratory developing the appropriate techniques;
MAIN ACTIVITIES
A/ Banque de sang
- Support referring doctors and project coordinators to work on mobilizing local authorities and community leaders to mobilize the community for voluntary blood donation
- Learn and support laboratory managers to regularly organize voluntary blood donation campaigns
- Lead laboratory teams to ensure the biological qualification of blood products through serological and immunohaematological tests in accordance with the directives of the WHO and the National Blood Transfusion Center in Niger
- Collaborate with each project’s medical team to perform the ultimate bedside control test
B/ Analyzes of Lab exams
- Implementation of a minimum laboratory and complementary package depending on the availability of financial resources.
- Support project laboratory teams in implementing a quality assurance approach to execute project laboratory examination requests.
- Teach laboratory teams to report results in a timely manner
- Ensure biosafety procedures in the laboratory department
- Support referring doctors and RSIs in the management of anomalies or difficulties encountered during the execution of analyzes
- Make the different normal values of the requested examinations available (Biochemistry, hematology, ionogram, CBC, etc.)
C/Inventory management of laboratory items
- Carry out regular inventories of lab items
- Monitor expiration dates of reagents and blood transfusion items
- Carry out preventive maintenance by implementing a maintenance plan for laboratory equipment.
- Collaborate with other departments in the identification of all laboratory devices (glucometer, blood cell, etc.) and their quality control.
D/ Ordering laboratory items
- Contribute to the definition of budgets and forecast planning for projects by standardizing and promoting the different activities of the laboratory component
- Anticipate the ordering of lab items
- Control the average monthly consumption of laboratory items
- Propose loans or donations to the referring doctor of different items according to need
E/Monitoring, analyse et rapport
- Conduct audits on compliance with standard operating procedures as defined in SOP manuals
- Monitor the sector’s performance indicators and propose avenues to project teams in an improvement process;
- Ensure the proper maintenance of various data collection tools (registers, notebook, etc.)
- Evaluate the quality of the data collected and the keeping of different registers
- Actively participate in monitoring activities and reporting (collection and analysis of laboratory activities.
- Anticipate technological, regulatory or capacity developments in supported laboratories and define the need for future laboratory equipment
F/Others
- Evaluate training needs and make recommendations
EXPERIENCES ET COMPETENCES
Experiences:
- Experience of at least 24 months on projects with transfusion activities
- Experience of at least 12 months in a similar position with the same volume of activity of around 400 transfusions per month
- Experience in a comparable intervention context (medical humanitarian)
- Experience in team management and staff development
Formation :
- Master 2 level diploma ideally in the field of biotechnology or medical biology
- Specialized training in blood transfusion is strongly desired.
- A degree in public health or epidemiology is desirable
- Perfect command of writing and IT tools
Qualifications of the candidate:
- Ability to analyze, organize and listen
- Ability to work in a team with different contacts
- Critical sense and strength of proposal
- Role of leadership and facilitator in the face of problems encountered
- Proficiency in writing and IT tools
- Rigor, autonomy and curiosity
- Flexibility and stress management
- Ability to work in a team in multicultural contexts
- Managerial experience of at least 24 months.
- Proficiency in IT tools required (Word, Excel and internet)
- Adherence to the principles of ALIMA
LANGUAGES
- Good command of French (read, written, spoken) essential
- English is an asset
CONDITIONS
Duration and type of contract : 3-month fixed-term contract under French law with the possibility of renewal .
Starting position : 05/2024
Salary : According to ALIMA salary scale + valuation of experience + Per diem
ALIMA supports:
- Travel costs between the expatriate’s country of origin and the place of mission
- Accommodation costs
- Medical coverage from the first day of contract to one month after the date of departure from the country of mission for the employee and his dependents
- Evacuation for the employee and his dependents
How to apply
To apply, please send your CV and Cover Letter online
Applications are processed in order of arrival. ALIMA reserves the right to close the offer before the deadline initially indicated if an application is accepted. Only complete applications (CV in PDF format + Cover Letter) will be considered.
Female candidates are strongly encouraged.