Background

To support the MOH efforts, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded a five-year contract for Safe, Affordable, and Effective Medicines for Ukrainians (SAFEMed) to Management Sciences for Health (MSH) in September 2017. SAFEMed applies health system-strengthening best practices to create evidence-based interventions and strengthen Ukraine’s pharmaceutical system in line with the MOH’s health care reform objectives. SAFEMed has three primary project objectives working in unison towards achieving sustained epidemic control given constraints related to COVID-19:

 1) Strengthening governance within the pharmaceutical sector of Ukraine

2) Optimizing the financing of the pharmaceutical sector

3) Increasing the availability and appropriate use of medicines in Ukraine.

 In PY5 SAFEMed will help CPH and CPA to develop a new electronic tool for forecasting and quantification in MedData to cover ARVs with potential expansion to TB, viral hepatitis, and MAT. SAFEMed will also support the CPH to make the quantification tool interoperative with HIV MIS, so that the commodity data will be triangulated with patient data and stock levels can be monitored online at the national, regional and site levels. Due to its compatibility with the HIV MIS, the new tool will provide a user-friendly and effective forecasting and demand planning option that incorporates variables such as stock levels, pending deliveries, number of patients on certain treatment regimens, treatment optimization and switching, etc. to mitigate stock-out/overstock risks and waste management. Such approach will help CPH, regional AIDS centers, and other service delivery points at the subnational level to better monitor and use supply chain data to improve commodity availability. This will increase the quality of monthly reports and allow managers to react quickly to potential overstock/stockout risks. The interoperability with HIV MIS will also facilitate the transition to dolutegravir-based regimens and general optimization of ART regimens. During PY5, SAFEMEd will collaborate with MOH and CPH to design and implement a plan to pilot the tool at both central and regional level and use the results to revise the tool if necessary before rolling it out. The pilot will involve staff from CPH and from select hospitals from three regions. We will also analyze the pilot results to see if any lessons learned can be applied to improve the quantification of TB medicines.

 General responsibilities

The main goal of the consultant is to support CPA and CPH in the development of a comprehensive electronic tool for ARV quantification and its integration with other existing information systems in line with the ARV quantification roadmap. The consultant will work under the guidance of a Head of Operational Analytics and IT Department of CPA in close cooperation with the specialists from the Information Systems Department of the Public Health Center of Ukraine and under oversight of SAFEMed.

 Timeframe

The consultant will be contracted from 15 August – 31 October 2021 (a total of 11 weeks), with possible extension.

 Functional responsibilities

1. Development of new user interfaces for data collection.
2. Testing the site for proper functioning.
3. Develop database structure.
4. Develop cross-browser user-friendly bootstrap-based interface.
5. Develop and support Joomla CMS extensions.
6. Develop API integration scripts to ensure new tool’s compatibility with MIS HIV and other systems as needed.
7. Support end user training as needed.
8. Analyze requirements to determine the most effective web technologies to satisfy customers’ needs.
9. Optimizing MySQL Queries and databases to improve the performance.
10. Translate UI/UX design wireframes to actual code.
11. Take up system analysis, design, documenting responsibilities.

 Deliverables

• Complex system for data collection, analysis and reporting as described in ToR for the ARV electronic tool
• Bootstrap based user-friendly interface to collect data necessary for demand quantification
• API integration scripts to ensure new tool’s compatibility with MIS HIV and other systems as needed
• System documentation

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor Degree in IT
• 3+ years professional experience in professional web development
• Knowledge of front-end technologies, such as JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS3
• Strong knowledge of Bootstrap library
• Experience in Joomla CMS extensions development
• Strong knowledge of object-oriented PHP programming
• Knowledge of relational databases (MySQL)
• Understanding of code versioning tools, such as Git
• Experience in common third-party APIs
• Understanding accessibility and security compliance
• Experience in refactor, optimize and improve the existing codebase
• Experience in optimizing MySQL Queries
• Understanding of asynchronous request handling, partial page updates, and Ajax
• Ukrainian – fluent, intermediate English
• Strong Knowledge of Microsoft Office and Google Docs
• Strong problem-solving skills
• Self-sufficient and motivated to deliver tasks independently
• Well-developed communication skills
• High level of motivation and proactive civil position

Reporting

Monthly reports on deliverables status. Report directly to SAFEMed Principle Technical Advisor on Supply Chain.

 Duties performance location

Kyiv, Ukraine, CPA office/remote with no business trips.

Qualified candidates may apply to the address: [email protected]. The position is open till filled. Past performance references would be an advantage. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.