Health Officer (Digital Health)

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias, or favouritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic, and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfil their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries.
Therefore, the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Papua New Guinea (PNG) has an estimated population of about 11.8 million people of which 86.8% live in rural areas and more than 470,000 newborns are delivered annually. PNG faces unique healthcare challenges due to its diverse geography and cultural landscape. Strengthening the capacity of communities to address primary healthcare needs is essential for improving health outcomes and achieving universal health coverage towards fast-tracking the achievement of SDG 3.
While there has been significant improvement in the health indices in the last 3 decades, Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR), Under 5 Mortality Rate (U5MR), and Neonatal Mortality Ratio (NMR) have remained highest in the region. Demand for services at the community level remains very low with resultant poor utilization of primary health care services such as immunization, delivery in health facilities, and nutrition. In PNG, the number of zero-dose children is very high, 50% of children are malnourished, many pregnant women do not attend Antenatal Care (ANC) and only about 40% deliver in a health facility.
Digital health, when used appropriately, has the potential to transform the quality and sustainability of healthcare services and is now increasingly seen as an essential resource in health information management, clinical decision support, tracking of medical supplies, and infectious disease surveillance amongst other things.

The digital health maturity assessment results, consistent with previous evaluations, revealed an overall digital health maturity score of 2.33 for PNG. Among the nine building blocks, the Interventions & Applications block received the highest score (3.92), primarily due to the successful implementation of the electronic National Health Information System (eNHIS). The Data Ecosystem block, supported by standardized registers, tally sheets, and forms from the National Department of Health (NDoH), also performed well with a score of 2.89. The Strategy & Investment and Digital Infrastructure blocks achieved scores in the high twos. Conversely, the remaining building blocks scored in the ones, including Interoperability (IoP), a key area of interest outlined in the National Health Plan 2021-2030.

To improve immunization outcomes, it is critical that NDOH continues to strengthen data management and logistics Management by utilizing digital tools to improve data quality, vaccine availability, microplanning, supportive supervision, and cold chain inventory management.

The objective of this assignment is to support to provide the Technology for Development (T4D) support to health programming in Papua New Guinea.

Under the direct supervision of the Immunization Specialist, this role is to support needs assessment, the design, and deployment of digital health solutions to support immunization information systems and primary health care systems strengthening towards the implementation of the National Health Plan 2021 – 2030.
The incumbent will work with the National Department of Health and in-country partners to coordinate efforts to geo-enable the microplanning process for routine immunization, support the scale-up of the use of mSupply, and support the deployment and use of digital health solutions for data collecting, reporting, and visualization using INFORM application, ODK (Open Data Kit) and Powerbi dashboard, etc.

a. Provide technical and Programmatic Support on Digital Health
• Support the use of digital tools (GIS mapping, ODK, Visual analytics tools etc) to support cold chain inventory
digitization, microplanning, reporting, monitoring and supportive supervision for routine immunization programme.
• Support implementation of the eLMIS (electronic logistics management information system using mSupply
application) rollout, strengthening national mSupply hub, and capacity building of the sub-national managers
through regular field visits
• Strengthen the IT capacity and promote the digital literacy of Community Health Workers and health managers
through remote (online) health worker training.

b. Policy and Strategic Development for Technology-enabled Programming and System Strengthening:
• Provide technical inputs and assistance as needed towards the implementation of the prioritized interventions of
the PNG Digital health strategy and the strengthening of PNG’s eHealth TWG and digital health governance
structure.

c. Capacity Building
• Provide training to stakeholders and end-users: Participate as resource person in capacity building initiatives to
enhance the competencies, capacity and knowledge within the programmes on digital transformation; train
UNICEF staff, partners, government counterparts and other end users in digital transformation and technology
innovation.

d. Engage, facilitate, and maintain partnerships and networks.
• Participate and support representation in external, inter-agency or partner forums on Digital Transformation and
Technology Innovation in the health sector.