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 Background and Purpose:

Operationalization of an electronic community-based surveillance within the eCHIS framework

Following the launch of the National Community Health Strategy (NCHS) by the Government of Uganda in February 2023, UNICEF has been actively supporting the strategy dissemination and implementation across national and subnational platforms. One of the key focus areas, Strategic Direction 6, aims to strengthen the collection and use of quality community health data to support evidence-based decision-making and improve health outcomes at the community level. In alignment with Uganda’s National Development Plan III (NDP III) and its emphasis on digital transformation in healthcare, several community digital health innovations have been introduced to enhance data collection, real-time reporting, visualization, and data-driven decision-making.

The Electronic Community Health Information System (eCHIS) is a digital platform that helps community health workers (CHWs) record, track, and manage health information more efficiently. eCHIS has been rolled out in 21 districts with support from MoH, UNICEF, and other partners. Among these, seven districts—Kamwenge, Lamwo, Mukono, Wakiso, Kamuli, Kampala, and Ntungamo—are part of UNICEF’s 29 focus districts. Through eCHIS, Village Health Teams (VHTs) register households and track community members, facilitating improved access to and uptake of Primary Health Care (PHC) services. To build on this progress, UNICEF aims to operationalize an electronic community-based surveillance (CBS) system within the eCHIS framework, further integrating it with national surveillance platforms. This initiative will enable a coordinated, data-driven public health response, enhancing Uganda’s capacity to detect and respond to health threats more efficiently.

Uganda is currently managing multiple public health threats, including outbreaks of Measles (12 districts), Anthrax (1 district), Mpox (95 districts), Cholera (2 districts), and Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) (3 districts and 3 cities). In addition to these, several high-priority surveillance signals require attention, such as a mysterious disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Meningitis in Nebbi, suspected Rabies in Mbale City and Butaleja, Cholera outbreaks in Kisoro, Kiryandongo, Kampala, and South Sudan, and cVDPV2 (Circulating Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus Type 2) in Kenya and DRC. Currently, disease notifications are primarily reported through health facility-based surveillance systems, including the 6767 toll-free number, which consolidates reports on over 23 notifiable diseases and health events, such as maternal deaths. However, community-level surveillance remains poorly coordinated, with limited resources and capacity, reducing the ability to detect public health threats early and initiate timely responses.

Community-based interventions present a critical opportunity to enhance disease surveillance at the grassroots level while strengthening integrated health service delivery. By leveraging Community Health Workers (CHWs) and Village Health Teams (VHTs), the electronic CBS system within eCHIS will improve early detection, reporting, and response to public health threats, contributing to better outbreak preparedness and community resilience. This approach will enhance stakeholder engagement, fostering collaboration among local leaders, healthcare workers, and community members to improve public health outcomes. By adopting a multi-hazard surveillance approach, the CBS system will extend beyond infectious disease monitoring—such as for Ebola, Mpox, and Cholera—to include maternal and child health indicators, environmental hazards, and other emergency health concerns.

Enhancing Community-Based Surveillance (CBS) through eCHIS in 3 ROK program districts.

UNICEF through funding from the Republic of Korea (ROK) is looking to support three districts- Mukono Wakiso and Kampala, to systematically detect and report significant public health events through community-based surveillance. This initiative will complement early warning systems for potential epidemic diseases by leveraging the capacity of community health workers.

To further strengthen Community-Based Surveillance (CBS) systems, UNICEF aims to support the integration of notifiable disease surveillance into eCHIS, in line with Strategic Objective 5.4 and the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) framework. The intervention will focus on optimizing coordination mechanisms and ensuring an efficient CBS system for streamlined reporting on notifiable diseases. Through a structured network of Community Health Workers (CHWs), including VHTs and Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs), a cohort of 3,680 CHWs across Mukono, Kampala, and Wakiso districts will be trained and equipped to actively monitor, detect, and report potential public health threats. These CHWs will initiate real-time notifiable disease notifications within eCHIS, enhancing early outbreak detection and response.

UNICEF will collaborate closely with the MoH’s Departments of Public Health Emergencies, Health Promotion and Health Information (DHI) to update standardized community-case definitions for identifying and reporting signs and symptoms of potential diseases, health risks, and public health events. These definitions will be made available in both English and local languages to ensure clarity, accuracy, and early notification. Additionally, a structured case notification and reporting protocol will be developed, outlining the process from the community level to health facilities, district health offices, and finally, the national level.

Following community-level case notifications, investigations will be initiated and integrated into the Infectious Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) system. Strengthening linkages between community reporting and facility-based notification platforms will create a comprehensive response mechanism, enabling real-time evaluation at the community level. This will facilitate early detection, rapid community response, and mitigation of disease spread, ultimately supporting a timely and coordinated public health response.

By reinforcing community-based surveillance, this approach is expected to enhance public health preparedness and response while contributing to Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

Purpose:

This consultancy will support MoH in updating community case definitions, developing a structured case notification protocol, and strengthening reporting from communities to health facilities. It will also lead capacity-building for healthcare workers in Mukono, Wakiso, and Kampala while collaborating with MoH and leveraging Living Goods to integrate Community-Based Surveillance (CBS) indicators into eCHIS.

Justification:

The consultant will provide technical support to the Ministry of Health’s Division of Health Information (MoH-DHI), Department of Health Promotion and Public Health Emergency (PHE) teams, as well as District Local Governments (DLGs), to develop/review and update standardized community-case definitions for identifying and reporting signs and symptoms of potential diseases, health risks, and public health events. A structured case notification and reporting protocol, detailing the reporting process from the community level to health facilities and district health offices. Key lessons and best practices will be documented and shared in relevant technical working groups and stakeholder forums, ensuring that Community Health Development partners are informed of successful strategies and outcomes. These learnings will also contribute to ongoing efforts to enhance eCHIS reporting and community-based notification, ultimately strengthening emergency preparedness and response across the three districts and providing a model for scale-up in other eCHIS-supported districts.

Objectives:

The objective of the consultancy is to provide technical assistance to MoH to Operationalize an electronic community-based surveillance within the eCHIS framework.

Key Tasks and Responsibilities

The consultant will be responsible for completing the following tasks during the assignment period:

1. Technical Support for Standardized Community-Case Definitions development

• Provide technical support to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in developing/reviewing and updating standardized community-case definitions for identifying and reporting signs and symptoms of potential diseases, health risks, and public health events.
• Assist MoH in updating community-case definitions for key notifiable diseases, incorporating a One Health approach through consultations with relevant stakeholders and departments.
• Support MoH in updating existing paper-based tools, securing endorsement and adoption for national-scale implementation.

 

 

2. Development of a Structured Case Notification and Reporting Protocol

• Conduct a gap analysis to assess existing case notification and reporting protocols, covering both paper-based and eCHIS-integrated reporting mechanisms.
• Provide technical support in updating reporting protocols, ensuring seamless case notification from community level to health facilities and district health offices.
• Strengthen the feedback loop process by integrating a mechanism that triggers investigations by Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) or healthcare workers, linking to the facility-based notification system (6767) for timely response and action, including integration into eCHIS with an embedded alert system to flag notifications that remain un-responded to within 72 hours.

3. Integration of Community-Based Surveillance (CBS) Indicators into eCHIS

• Collaboratively work with Living goods towards technical support provision to the MoH Division of Health Information (DHI) on integration of CBS indicators into eCHIS, ensuring real-time data capture and reporting.
• Lead capacity efforts on use and reporting of community-based surveillance indicators within Mukono, Wakiso, and Kampala through eCHIS.
• Actively participate in MoH Technical Working Groups (TWGs), including EPI, Community Health (CH), and eCHIS, contributing technical insights and documenting best practices and lessons learned from the CBS integration process.

4. Capacity-Building for District, Facility, and Community Healthcare Workers

• Lead capacity-building initiatives for 3,870 Village Health Teams (VHTs) across Mukono, Kampala, and Wakiso, equipping them with the updated CBS tools.
• Document key learnings from the capacity-building process to assess effectiveness, challenges, and additional capacity needs, ensuring continuous improvements and optimization of CBS efforts.

Major Tasks

1. Development of inception report detailing understanding of the assignment and implementation plan.
2. Technical Support for Standardized Community-Case Definitions development including structured Case Notification, Reporting protocol and Integration of Community-Based Surveillance (CBS) Indicators into eCHIS
3. Capacity-Building for District, Facility, and Community Healthcare Workers and overall activity report highlighting best practices, challenges, and recommendations.

 

Deliverables:

1. Inception report detailing approach to the assignment including anticipated collaborations (MoH, Sub-national level).
2. Report on Standardized Community Case Definitions, Reporting Tools, and Case Notification Protocol, including Successful Integration into eCHIS.
3. Capacity Building Report on the Optimization of Community-Based Surveillance (CBS) Efforts, including Comprehensive Documentation on CBS/eCHIS Integration and Implementation.

 

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have… 

1. Education background: Advanced university degree in Public Health, Social/political sciences, Statistics or other relevant fields.
2. Work-experience: Minimum of 7 years of relevant professional work experience at national and international level in analysis and/or research and/or communication/advocacy in public health, primary health care, digital health, emergency response, community health programming
   • Extensive experience producing timely and high-quality reports for UN systems
   • Experience working with international development organizations and/or government institutions is an asset.
   • Technical knowledge Health Informatics and digital health systems including the electronic community health information system
   • Experience in scoping, user testing, and training in digital health projects.
   • Experience in development and deployment of low bandwidth solutions in challenging and/or low resource settings.
   • Ability to align technical and strategic goals in multi-partner engagements Community health systems in Uganda & Region
   • Primary health care and Health System Strengthening
3. Language skills:  Excellent written and verbal communication in English is required.

• Knowledge of the local language is considered as an asset.

 

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values 

UNICEF competencies required for this post are… 

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others (8) Nurtures, leads and manages people.  

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here. 

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic. 

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. 

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check. 

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable are encouraged to apply. 

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason. 

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.