International Consultancy: Development of Child Health Programme for the Ministry... Tender

Procurement Summary

Country : Swaziland

Summary : International Consultancy: Development of Child Health Programme for the Ministry of Health in The Kingdom of Eswatini

Deadline : 13 Aug 2018

Other Information

Notice Type : Tender

TOT Ref.No.: 25633404

Document Ref. No. :

Competition : ICB

Financier : United Nations Secretariat

Purchaser Ownership : -

Tender Value : Refer Document

Purchaser's Detail

Purchaser : UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND
UNICEF Swaziland 1st Floor Lilunga House Somhlolo Road Mbabane Tel: +268-4071000 Fax: +268-4045202
Swaziland

Tender Details

Tenders are invited for International Consultancy: Development of Child Health Programme for the Ministry of Health in The Kingdom of Eswatini.

Background and Justification The Kingdom of Eswatini has made significant progress in reducing under five mortality rates from 104 per 1, 000 live births in 2010 to 67 per 1, 000 in 2014. Health Management Information System figures correlated this fall, with institutional deaths declining from 371 in 2014 to 270 in 2017. However, minimal progress and stagnation has been observed in reduction of neonatal and infant mortality rates. The Ministry of Health child health and SRH reports of 2017 have revealed child health concerns that would significantly affect progress towards reduction of neonatal, infant and under-five mortality and affect achievement of the SDGs. National BCG coverage declined from 98% in 2014 to 77% in 2017 and yet 88% of the mothers deliver in health facilities. Penta 3 is at 87% while MR1 is at 78% both below the WHO recommended 90% threshold. The number of confirmed malaria cases in under five has increased from 6 in 2013 to 105 in 2017. A declining trend in exclusive breast feeding from 71% in 2015 to 65% in 2017 was reported and an increase in number of wasted children from 73 in 2015 to 834 in 2017 was observed. The number of fresh still births has increased from 62 in 2015 to 101 in 2017 while macerated still births have increased from 105 in 2015 to 135 in 2017. The Ministry of Health is currently implementing a number of programmes that tackle newborn and children issues through several vertical programmes but there is no as such a child health programme in the MOH to coordinate the child health related programmes and intervention packages. The vertical programmes that address specific child health areas are: SRH, MNH, Nutrition, EPI, IMNCI, TB, HIV/AIDS etc. This has led to uncoordinated planning, implementation and monitoring of the programmes targeting the same health facilities and children which eventually has led to inefficiency in resource utilisation and health outcomes. This has also led to lack of a holistic a child-centred, life course approach yet child survival and development requires a holistic and integrated approach within the health sector. Furthermore, the child survival strategy of the MoH expired in 2015 and there is no guiding document with clear targets for child health programme. In addition, currently the Ministry of Health has not put adequate emphasise on nurturing care for early childhood development which is critical for child’s development from conception to the first 1, 000 days of life. Due to the absence of a costed child health strategy/strategic plan, resource requirements for the child health programme are not known and this may contribute to inadequate resource allocation to child health. The nonexistence of financial resource needs to achieve children’s related SDG targets and objectives (results) will have an impact on advocacy for resource allocation for a child health program. It is within this line that the Ministry of Health would like to address the noted gaps affecting children and institute a programme that will comprehensively and holistically address the issues of children. Noting that the first 1, 000 days of life has a tremendous effect on a child’s future; health, education, wellbeing and financial success as an adult, the MoH would like to ensure that a standard package of interventions for children during that period is provided holistically at health facility and community levels. The MoH would, therefore, like to develop a child health programme with clear strategies, targets, delivery and accountability systems that will facilitate delivery of the holistic package of services for under five children.

Scope of Work The purpose of this consultancy is to assist the Ministry of Health in developing a child health programme document that will facilitate the delivery of integrated and holistic package of child survival and development services along the continuum of care aligned with the context of global strategy for women, children and adolescent health at national, and decentralised levels.The objectives of the consultancy include to;•Conduct analysis of child health status to identify deprivations and disparities that will guide development of a targeted child health programmes•Assess existing child related programmes and identify strengths and gaps in provision of comprehensive and holistic child health services within the health sector and define programme needs•Analyse the existing child health delivery platforms within MoH and identify strengths and gaps in facilitating delivery of integrated holistic package of service for children•Develop a child health programme document with an integrated package of interventions for children by typology (clear package for age groups e.g. the first 1, 000 days, targeted population) •Propose service delivery strategies, implementation modalities (costing scenario options) and accountability systems at national, regional, health facility and community level•Develop a results framework for the implementation of child health programme with clear activities that would facilitate costing of the programme 1)Provide details/reference to AWP areas covered:This activity is in line with output 1.1 and activity 1.1.2 on support to the development of strategies and guidelines for improved delivery of integrated ECD services.

2)Activities and Tasks: a.Conduct a desk review of all relevant documents and identify key information and conduct at national, regional, facility and community levels to get inputs on proposed child disparity and deprivations analysis b.Hold consultative meetings with child health programme managers to identify strengths, opportunities and gaps on the existing child health service provision c.Hold meetings with the Senior Management and child health forum to present inception report and reach consensus on proposed process guided by the results from desk review. d.Hold consultative meetings with various stakeholders at national, regional, facility and community levels to get in puts on proposed child health programme e.Develop draft child health programme f.Present draft health programme with proposed service delivery systems and results framework to child health forum and relevant stakeholders for inputs.g.Present final draft Child health programme with proposed service delivery systems and implementation/results framework to Senior Management.h.Finalise and submit a comprehensive integrated child health package for the health sector with service delivery systems and implementation/results framework.

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