The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on March 11, 2020. The earliest cases in the Caribbean region were reported on March 1, 2020, and by mid-March the region had experienced a substantial surge. As of April 1st, 2022, the Commonwealth of Dominica has reported 11,897 cases of COVID-19 and 63 deaths, equivalent to 1,652 cases per 10,000 habitants. Like most countries, Dominica imposed movement and travel restrictions to mitigate the pandemic in the first half of 2020, but by mid-July 2020 re-opened their borders, leading to a peak in increased cases in October 2020 (PAHO). Approximately 40% of the population has received the recommended two doses of the vaccine.
However, timely COVID-19 decision making and creation of targeted vaccination efforts has been difficult due to challenges in accessing quality data quickly and efficiently. Health information systems in Dominica have long been under-resourced and understaffed, issues that have only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite government prioritization of a national HIS, a lack of resources and a unifying HIS strategic plan have remained barriers to the existence of a comprehensive HMIS to support health and COVID-19 information in particular. Currently, the HIS at the Ministry of Health is supported by only two full-time staff members reporting to the Chief Medical Officer. The information system is mostly paper-based at the primary health care level, and there is no minimum health data set to be reported on
routinely. COVID-19 data is collected on paper and collated/analyzed manually. There is a web-based system for tracking of vaccination data, but it is currently not being utilized. These systems for case and vaccine tracking are not currently integrated with other elements of the HMIS.
To address these challenges, with funding from the USAID Eastern and Southern Caribbean
Mission, the Global Evaluation Network for Health (GEMNet-Health) as part the USAIDfunded Country Health Information Systems and Data Use (CHISU) program consortium is assisting the Ministry of Health in Dominica to support comprehensive country readiness to administer COVID-19 vaccines, including efforts to ensure uptake and access among all eligible populations and expand equitable access and timely delivery of vaccines.
GEMNet and CHISU will support the Ministry via recruitment of a Dominica-based consultant to identify and apply appropriate solutions to address issues in the collection, storage, and utilization of COVID-19 vaccination data. This consultant will be seconded to the Ministry of Health and will work under the technical supervision of the Chief Medical Officer, with the contract managed by GEMNet-Health.
Specific Responsibilities
GEMNet-Health invites individual consultants based in Dominica to present a CV demonstrating experience and capacity to provide the services described below.
● Rapid assessment of national COVID-19 testing data sources outlining the data management processes, bottlenecks, and concrete recommendations for rationalizing processes and digitizing tools where feasible. The desired modality is a central electronic repository where daily COVID-19 testing data can be accessed by decision makers from district up to national level on demand.
● Rapid review of current paper based and electronic platforms being used to capture, report and disseminate COVID-19 vaccination data with suggested steps for increasing the timeliness, completeness and accuracy of the data. The desired approach is to build on existing systems and to everage available resources for higher quality reporting.
● Enhancement of the data analysis and consolidation process of all COVID-19 data and development of associated guidelines. The desired result is a national COVID-19 dashboard, accessible to all relevant stakeholders, showing up-to-date status on COVID-19 vaccination and testing, with transferable instructions to any party
responsible for performing this consolidation task.
● Facilitation of data quality assessment activities, using available tools that meet a global standard, culminating in the convening of 2 national learning events on data quality improvement. The desired outcome would be resolution of apparent issues that impact the quality of data, and stakeholders sharing and learning best practices on addressing common data quality challenges.
● Support for additional COVID-19 data related tasks as requested by the Ministry.
Timelines:
The activities are anticipated to be implemented over 12 months at full time effort.
Consultants’ qualifications
● Demonstrable experience in health information systems in Dominica and/or the Caribbean region (please describe participation in related work in CV)
● Bachelor’s degree (Master’s degree preferred) in health-related areas or health information systems.
To apply Please email a CV and proposed daily rate (and/or any questions) to [email protected] and to
[email protected].
About GEMNet-Health
With a wealth of technical expertise and experience, Global Evaluation and Monitoring Network for Health (GEMNet-Health), established in 2012, fosters organisational growth, collaboration, and peer-to-peer support for Monitoring and Evaluation of health programs globally through ongoing institutional linkages among members. As a network with a diverse set of skills and experiences and with members located across continents, GEMNet-Health is a global resource for technical assistance, consultancy services and capacity building in the field of Monitoring and Evaluation, including work with health information systems, data dissemination and use, health informatics, and specialized M&E topics.
