Data Management Consultant At Carter Center

1. Background

The Carter Center has assisted the Ethiopian Dracunculiasis Eradication Program (EDEP) since its establishment in 1992. According to data from 1993, the first national case search was done in 113 villages and a total of 1,120 Guinea worm (GW) cases were detected and reported. Through the implementation of different complementary interventions, EDEP significantly reduced the number of reported Guinea worm cases from 1,120 cases in 1993 to 11 cases in 2020. The program also eliminated endemic transmission of Guinea worm disease (GWD) in South Omo in 2001. Currently, EDEP has heightened its implementation to 190 villages under active surveillance (VAS) and 163 non-village areas under active surveillance (NVAs) in Gog and Abobo woredas of Gambella regional state.

EDEP has continued to report human cases and animal infections of GWD from Gambella region. After reporting zero human cases for two consecutive years, 11 cases were reported from outbreaks in Gog Dipach kebele and around Ogul ponds between PRC Agnua and Abawiri villages of Gog woreda. In 2020, EDEP detected and reported a total of 11 cases and 15 animal infections. This shows that there is a need to strengthen planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of program interventions being done at the community level.

The main program strategies currently designed and implemented to interrupt GWD transmission include: active surveillance – to ensure early detection, reporting, investigation, and containment of GW cases and infections; vector control – application of Abate chemical to unsafe water sources, and environmental management of unsafe water sources and streams; filter distribution – availing cloth and pipe filters to protect people from drinking water that contain copepods; proactive tethering – dogs and cats in high-risk areas are proactively tethered to ensure containment of all possible domestic animal infections and prevent their future exposure to GWD; and behavioral change communication (BCC) – different health-education and behavior-change activities, at household and community levels, designed to address gaps in key targeted behaviors (consistent use of filters, collecting water for drinking from safe sources, immediate reporting of GW rumors and suspects, consistent tethering of dogs/cats, and proper disposal of fish entrails).

To ensure evidence-based planning, monitoring and evaluation, and program documentation, EDEP collects data related to rumors, suspects, cases/infections, water sources, Abate applications, filter distributions, BCC sessions and populations reached, and surveillance visits to VAS and NVAs by EDEP staff and partners. These data are collected from all VAS and NVAs, get compiled, reviewed, digitalized, analyzed and reported on a monthly basis to internal and external partners, including the Ministry of Health and the Carter Center’s Atlanta office. The program uses Microsoft Excel to enter and analyze the data, as well as generate reports.

EDEP’s current data-management system is time-consuming during collection and entry, which prevents timely data analysis and reporting. In addition, the system is highly vulnerable to errors due to the lack of automated data-quality checks. With multiple people manually entering, cleaning, checking, and analyzing the data, it is difficult to maintain data quality.

In general, the data-management system is not user-friendly nor fulfilling the need for evidence-based planning and decision-making. Indicators and other operational metrics are not easily analyzed by the program.

Therefore, EDEP in consultation with the Carter Center’s Atlanta office, would like to hire a temporary data-management consultant to evaluate EDEP’s existing data-management system, identify areas that need improvement, and propose solutions. The consultant will be supervised primarily by the program’s country representative (CR) and secondarily by the Guinea worm data analyst in the Carter Center’s Atlanta office.

2. Key roles and responsibilities

Conduct needs assessment: The consultant will conduct a needs assessment to understand the existing data collection, flow, and management system through desk review of documents and visits to villages and health facilities. S/he will carry out meetings and interviews with selected program and program-support staff at the field office, country office, and headquarter levels to assess what systems are in place to ensure data quality and proper documentation. After the assessment, s/he will complete a needs-assessment report and recommend what EDEP’s data system should look like. S/he should present the assessment finding to the program staff.

Assess potential solutions: The consultant should assess the possibilities of

· Transitioning to NEMO, which is the Carter Center’s data-entry software.

· Using the “Analysis-Ready Data (ARD) Checklist for Microsoft Excel”, which is the Carter Center’s Guinea worm data-quality guide.

· Writing data dictionaries for Guinea worm data.

Recommend Solutions: The consultant will submit an analysis of the potential solutions and will explain in detail which solutions are the most suitable for EDEP.

S/he will submit a corresponding and detailed plan about improving data management. The plan should consider:

· SOPs.

· Data team: members, roles and responsibilities, size.

· Schedule for implementing the plan.