WHO Consultant – Polio Outbreak Response and Strengthening of Routine Immunization 5 views

Purpose of the Consultancy

The consultant is being recruited to provide technical support to the polio outbreak response and routine immunization strengthening in Papua New Guinea.

Background

Following the declaration of a polio outbreak in Papua New Guinea on 15 May 2025, the National Department of Health (NDOH), WHO, and key partners launched a rapid polio outbreak response. This included deploying international consultants to provinces to oversee an integrated Supplementary Immunization Activity (SIA) utilizing nOPV2 and fractional IPV, alongside routine vaccinations.

An interim review was conducted from 9–11 December 2025 led by the PNG Polio Technical Advisory Group (TAG), NDOH, and WHO. This review was attended by the provincial health authorities and partners such as UNICEF, Governments of Australia and Japan, CHAI and AIHSS. It was concluded that based on available surveillance data from AFP and environmental samples tested, the Polio TAG considers the outbreak ongoing and advises the national programme to continue operating on this basis. Further, Polio TAG recommended to conduct additional round of SIA in high-risk provinces and in provinces that performed poorly in the 2 SIA rounds.

Consequently, WHO PNG will continue to deploy international consultants to critical provinces to support the polio outbreak response. Consultants will also provide technical assistance to increase local capacity to strengthen routine immunization to prevent future vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks such as polio and measles.

Deliverables

Under the overall supervision of the WHO acting Representative and Team Lead of Vaccine-preventable Diseases Unit, the incumbent will support Provincial and District Health Authorities in implementing an integrated vaccination campaign using nOPV2 and routine vaccines and in strengthening routine immunization.

Output 1: Support provincial and district health authorities in preparing for the integrated vaccination campaign, including:

1. identification of all the needs for the integrated campaign at provincial and district levels (including finance, vaccine supply and logistics, human resources, transportation, etc.).
2. preparation of micro-plan and day-wise plan for the integrated campaign.
3. implementation plan (including coordination, logistics, social mobilization, etc.);
4. monitoring and supervision plan.
5. identification of human resource gaps and support local recruitment of vaccinators, team supervisors and social mobilizers.

Output 2:  Support provincial and district health authorities in implementation for the integrated vaccination campaign, including:

1. on-site coordination
2. rapid coverage monitoring
3. daily reporting and recommendations to Provincial and District Health Authorities.

Output 3: Support provincial and district health care staff in implementing VPD surveillance, including:

For VPDs:

1. Conduct on-the-job trainings on VPD surveillance for local surveillance staff
2. Conduct active surveillance in health care facilities
3. Ensure complete and timely reporting of surveillance data from province to the national level
4. Review quality and performance of VPD surveillance indicators and recommend improvements

Specifically for polio:

1. conduct case investigation,
2. complete case investigation form,
3. facilitate collection of stool samples from AFP cases (and from their contacts, when required),
4. facilitate shipping of stool samples to the Central Public Health Lab in Port Moresby,
5. conduct 6-day follow up on AFP cases, when required and
6. conduct active AFP cases search during the campaign

Output 4: Support provincial and district health care staff in accelerating routine immunization through integrated health service delivery including:  

1. optimization of vaccination strategies, mapping of priority districts/health facilities, and development of micro-plans
2. facilitation quarterly reviews to monitor and evaluate immunization programme, data quality, and VPD surveillance performance indicators Conduct supportive supervision, on-the-job training and mentoring for health workers in health facilities and districts
3. Supporting training of staff on micro-planning, immunization-in-practice, VPD surveillance and other related capacity building activities
4. Conducting supportive supervision, on-the-job training and mentoring for health workers in health facilities and districts

Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational Qualifications:  

Essential: University degree in Public Health or any health-related field.
Desirable: Post-graduate degree in Public Health

Experience

Essential: At least 5 years’ experience in immunization programme (e.g. polio, measles, vaccination campaign, etc. in developing countries)
Desirable: Working experience in the Pacific Island countries and/or Papua New Guinea

Skills/Knowledge:

• Expert knowledge of public health
• Good knowledge of VPD outbreak response and preparedness plan
• Good knowledge of planning, implementing and monitoring SIAs, conducting mass vaccination campaigns and AFP surveillance particularly in countries or areas with security issues and limited resources.

Language requirements:

Essential: Expert knowledge of English language (read-write-speak)

Location

Travel to Papua New Guinea is required, and consultant will be stationed at Provincial Heath Authority office in an assigned province:

Travel

The consultant is expected to travel according to the itinerary and estimated schedule below:

Travel dates: 01 Feb 2026 to 30 Nov 2026
Location: Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Remuneration and budget 

Remuneration: Payband level B, USD 7,000 (monthly)
Duration: 10 months, February to November 2026

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 ac-cessed 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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Persons with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations to enable participation in the re-cruitment process. Requests for reasonable accommodation should be sent through an email to  [email protected] 
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•     WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should re-port to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verifi-cation of short-listed candidates.
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•     Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority. 
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•     Please note that WHO’s contracts are conditional on members of the workforce confirming that they are vaccinated as required by WHO before undertaking a WHO assignment, except where a medical condition does not allow such vaccination, as certified by the WHO Staff Health and Wellbeing Ser-vices (SHW). The successful candidate will be asked to provide relevant evidence related to this condition. A copy of the updated vaccination card must be shared with WHO medical service in the medical clearance process. Please note that certain countries require proof of specific vaccinations for entry or exit. For example, official proof /certification of yellow fever vaccination is required to enter many countries. Country-specific vaccine recommendations can be found on the WHO inter-national travel and Staff Health and Wellbeing website. For vaccination-related queries please di-rectly contact SHW directly at [email protected].
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