Short-Term Pharmacy Workforce Lead- Assessor

Scope of Work (SoW)

Short-Term Pharmacy Workforce Lead- Assessor

The USAID Global Health Supply Chain Program- Procurement Supply Management project Ethiopia (GHSC-PSM)

Background

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Global Health Supply Chain Program- Procurement and Supply Management project (GHSC-PSM)works to ensure an uninterrupted supply of health commodities in support of U.S. government-funded public health initiatives around the world including Ethiopia. The project provides direct procurement and supply chain management support to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), and USAID’s family planning and reproductive health programs. To support U.S. government-funded global health activities, Global Health Supply Chain Program - Procurement and Supply Management (GHSC-PSM) manages a wide array of health commodity procurement services and provides related systems-strengthening technical assistance encompassing all elements of a comprehensive supply chain.

The Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Association (EPA) was established in 1975 with the objective of enhancing the profession of pharmacy in Ethiopia and be able to contribute to the creation of health society. It also aimed at promoting ethical practice among members. Moreover, it develops and maintains services, programs, procedures and mechanisms which may better help the public to get quality pharmaceutical services in the country.

The association has so far conducted various assessments in collaboration with different local and international organizations to so as to be able to provide credible information to serve as an input for policy makers/information for action. Specifically, the association conducted a national pharmacy work force assessment in 2010 primarily aiming at providing the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) what the pharmacist to population ratio in the country looked like in order to provide a clear picture of the notion of pharmacy work force in the country.

Currently, there are reports indicating that other health professionals are being deployed to fill the gaps which should have been covered by pharmacy professionals in some remote areas of the country. It is also reported that there is high attrition rate and vivid disparities in the distribution/density of pharmacy professionals among regional states. To alleviate the gap, some regional governments are making preparations to aggressively train pharmacy technicians which was discouraged some years back. The shortage of pharmacy work force might have occurred due to limited intake capacity of the existing pharmacy schools in the country or unbalanced distribution of pharmacy workforce between the public and private sectors. This definitely has a serious impact on the quality of health services in general and the quality of pharmaceutical services of in particular. Although a national pharmacy workforce study was conducted by the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Association in the past, it is now almost 8 years since the first study was conducted. Hence, it is important to conduct a national pharmacy work force study so as to be able to produce an objective evidence to serve as an input for appropriate intervention.

As part of its support to EPA, GHSC-PSM will provide technical and financial support toconductthis national assessment on Pharmacy Workforce in Ethiopia.Accordingly, GHSC-PSM plans to recruit a lead-assessor who will be responsible to lead the national assessment on pharmacy workforce in close collaboration with the co- assessor, EPA, GHSC-PSM and technical committee.

Goal of the Assessment

The goal of this assessment is to generate a reliable and current evidence on the pharmacy workforcesituation and disseminate the result to inform policy makers and program implementers on the pharmacy workforce situation and needs of the country.

Objective of the assessment
General objective

To assess pharmacyworkforcein Ethiopia.
Specific objectives
To determinedensityofpharmacy workforce per100,000population

To assess the level of distribution of pharmacy workforcebyregion and sector

To assess pharmacy work force deployment against the national standard
To project the pharmacy work force demandby2030
To determinelossrate of‘pharmacy workforce
To assess level of job satisfaction and plan to changework-life ofpharmacy workforce
And to assess other aspects relevant to pharmacy workforce.

Responsibilities of the lead assessor

Prepare and submit the study protocol and tools for local ethical review after securing concurrence from the technical committee where all relevant stakeholders are represented
Prepare both quantitative and qualitative data collection tools
Pretest the data collection tools and amend accordingly
Prepare a sound and detail logistics proposal
Train supervisors and data collectors in consultation with EPA and GHSC-PSM.
Conduct Focus group discussions (FGD) and high-level key informant interviews
Oversee the execution of the research as per the design and guide the supervisors.
Report the progress achieved in executing the planned research framework
Prepare data entry templates and assist the data entry clerks
Conduct data cleaning, analysis, interpretation and report writing
Present the research findings in the pre-validation workshop and incorporate comments.
Present the research findings in the validation workshop and incorporate comments.
Submit the final report to the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Association and GHSC-PSM.

Qualification and experience

Degree in pharmacy and master’s degree and above preferably in pharmacy or MPH.
More than ten years practical experience in research/consultancy preferably in the pharmaceutical sector or health workforce.
Having additional academic background in human resource for health is preferable.
Have at least couple of experiences in designing different national and international studies/assessments.
Demonstrated experience in conducting quantitative and qualitative research, especially larger-scale research projects.
Have a strong professional conduct and commitment to his/her profession and recognized by different institutions.
Have at least one published research output preferably in the area of health work force.
Have good knowledge and experience with statistical tools
Excellent interpersonal skills, sound judgment, and communication skills
Having strong passion and commitment in meeting the agreed deadlines
Having the ability to work in a team

Administration

The lead-assessor/consultant will directly report to designee of GHSC-PSM Program Ethiopia, Technical Committee, and Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Association.
The lead- assessor will meet with the technical committee every two weeks. When the need arises, the chairperson of the Technical Committee can call a meeting.
All technical issues of the assessment will be led and monitored by the Technical Committee.
All research related costs will be covered by the GHSC-PSM Program.
The lead assessor shall treat any information obtained in the course of the agreement as confidential and is not entitled to make any report about the findings.
All deliverables shall be reported to EPA and GHSC-PSM.

DELIVERABLES

Study protocol/proposal
Data collection tool/s
Raw data in soft and hardy copies (both qualitative and quantitative)
Draft assessment report ready for validation workshop
Validation workshop proceeding
Final assessment report

LEVEL OF EFFORT AND TIMELINE

The lead assessor/consultant will have around 55 days of LOE as per the following estimate within the timeline: April – July 2018
Develop study protocol/proposal accepted by the technical committee: 10 days
Develop data collection tool and provide training to data collectors: 10 days
Pre-test methodology and amend accordingly: 2 days
Oversee data collection: 10 days
Data entry and development of the draft assessment report for technical committee review: 15 days
Validation workshop and proceeding writing: 3 days
Produce final assessment report incorporating the workshop feedback: 5 days