PAHO Consultant - Respiratory Virus Surveillance

Organizational Context

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Job Purpose

To support regional initiatives aimed at enhancing respiratory virus surveillance, monitoring, reporting, and information sharing for public health decision-making in the Americas.

Responsibilities

Provide technical cooperation to countries in the Americas to strengthen, monitor, and evaluate surveillance systems for influenza, COVID-19, RSV, and ORV. Assist in developing and revising data collection protocols. Assess needs and deliver targeted training on surveillance of respiratory diseases. Support the regional consolidation of epidemiologic and virologic surveillance data. Update and promote regional guidance on integrated surveillance of respiratory viruses. Coordinate data collection and analysis for the Landscape Analysis of Respiratory Virus Surveillance Systems. Coordinate and monitor weekly submission of regional reports. Identify training needs and implement capacity-building initiatives. Contribute to regional reports, newsletters, and meetings. Coordinate the implementation of the MOSAIC framework initiative. Lead the SARInet working group. Design and implement a routine monitoring framework for sentinel surveillance sites. Develop and apply structured assessment tools for periodic evaluation of sentinel surveillance systems. Consolidate and analyze routine monitoring data to identify underperforming sites, emerging gaps, and capacity-building priorities.

Work Experience

Essential: Minimum of seven years of combined national and international experience in surveillance of communicable diseases, including influenza and other respiratory diseases. Desirable: Experience working with the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS).

Skills

Theoretical and practical knowledge of technical cooperation strategies and best practices for surveillance of influenza, COVID-19, RSV, and ORV. Expertise in monitoring, evaluating, and strengthening respiratory disease surveillance systems. Strong understanding of influenza and other respiratory pathogens. Excellent organizational and analytical skills. Strong professional oral and writing skills, including report development, oral presentations, and technical/persuasive document creation. Mature judgment, strong technical, analytical, and conceptual skills; demonstrated ability to assess, analyze, and synthesize large datasets and provide recommendations.

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