Terms of reference (ToR) APOC/Sightsavers / CBM /MDP/WHO HQ joint mission to Angola

jTerms of Reference [ToR) APoc/Sightsavers / CBM /MDP/WHO HQ |oint Mission to Angola Introduction Angola has an estimated population of approximately 18 million inhabitants. The country is divided into 18 Provinces of which 9 are endemic of onchocerciasis, namely Benguela, Bengo, Huila, Kuando- Kubango, Kwanza Norte, Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul, Moxico and Uige as the results of the REMO mapping exercises between 2002 and 2005. Loiasis is mainly prevalent in Bengo but is also slightly extended to Uige and Kwanza Norte (Fig 1 & 2). lSdra e.t-ica Nrmlbl. r50 300 600 Km .'+ I l I 1 :-lIIIrIIII iloArh pillda@ O 0o/o O 20loO 40 o/o o >60% Zlmb.bw. r+J Figure L: Results of Rapid epidemiological Mapping of Onchocerciasis in Angola Consequently, a total of 8 CDTI projects have been approved to date, 4 in the Western part of the country (Uige, Bengo, Kwanza Norte and Huila CDTI projects) and 4 in the East (Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul, Moxico and Kuando Kubango CDTI projects) is illustrated in figure 3 L t g cc C t g a ()e C ,t o o o Z.mbh ro !5 r a '1 I. !- rc. a Bot$an. 1Crelzt Sol Itrorico oe Nenibe Erile Km0 lo0 2oo Provinces ,a- to. rao - to. I oo- I ro- I.o-I ro-too* Crerdo Crbergo filglrd r'.u!.ll(*l r:iFi o- Ir- I ro- Oca- ffi urreeenomrsraYc Figure 2: Results of Rapid assessment procedure of Loiasis (RAPLOA) in Angola Ttta Noda Kuboigo I corr toatm€ntar€as I Prorin."" Districts/Municipos 2 Figure 3: CDTI project areas in Angola -IO q t'i3c # D.R. Conto Lorde Srl Lllde \iortc Elerbo Ttsd t9/ t- ilra tlna sl, AtLntic Ocmn 135 r *4"YI o Since 2005, APOC Management and partners have conducted several activities in Angola as follows: a From 4 to 7 October 2005, Dr Uche Amazigo, Director of APOC, headed an important international delegation of APOC partnership that facilitated a workshop on APOC Philosophy and CDTI Strategy as a landmark of the official launching of CDTI activities in Angola. ln 2007, APOC appointed a Technical Adviser and an Administrative and Finance Officer within WHO Country Office in order to provide technical and managerial support to the country. ln 2008, two experienced APOC Temporary Advisers spent almost three months in Angola ( from l June to 29 August) in training 164 people at all levels (Provinces, Municipalities and Communities) on CDTI planning and implementation, Mectizan supply and management, data collection and analysis and finally SAE detection and management. ln 2009, the same two Temporary Advisers returned to Angola for two additional months (from 8 July to 5 September) to reinforce capacity building at Central and Provincial levels and to assist the country in launching CDTI activities in loiasis co-endemic areas Bengo Province. During the same time, a high level APOC/MDP/WHO HQ advocacy mission took place from 27 to 30 July 2009 (Dr Laurent Yameogo, Dr Adrian Hopkins & Dr Tony Ukety). From this mission, it was clear that Angola has good number of private sector ready to invest in the health sector. ESSO (Oil Company)and UNITEL (cell phone Company)clearly expressed interest in funding onchocerciasis activities through their corporate responsibility funding if approached. Three existing NGOs, World Vision Angola (WVA) Solidariedade Evang6lica (SOLE) and Africare were also visited. Unfortunately, WVA decided to stop its support to Lunda Norte & Sul, Moxico and Kuando Kubango for the coming years due to financial constraints. SOLE who had supported Huila CDTI project in 2007 decided to withdrawal its support from 2008 due to management issue at the project level. Finally, Africare expressed its willingness to get involved in NTDs activities pending on the availability of funds. From 20 to 2L August 2009, the MoH had organized a national conference on NTDs which was attended by all key players, followed by the development of a NTD Master Plan. Apart from onchocerciasis programme, the mapping of all other NTDs will require further updating and refinement. From April 2010 to February 2012, APOC partnered with CBM in appointing a second Technical Adviser who unfortunately decided to get further training in cataract surgery and eye care in Benguela in order to be involved in comprehensive eye care activities in Bengo, Uige and Zaire Provinces in north-western part of the country. At the same time, Sightsavers started discussing the possibility of partnering with WVA. From 19 - 2L June 2OL2, the MOH had organized another meeting called "Forum on NTDs in Angola" which was attended by several partners: WHO Country Office, UNICEF, lnstituto Superior de Ci6ncias de Saride (lSClSA), Faculdade de Medicina/Universidade Agostinho Neto (UAN), Centro de lnvestigagSo em Sa0de em Angola (CISA), Geneva Global (GG), ENDFUND, Dubai Cares, Christoffel Blinden Mission (CBM), World Vision Angola (WVA), Africare, Solidariedade Evang6lica (SOLE) and the Mentor lnitiative. Unfortunately, NTD/AFRO and APOC did not participate in this important meeting. o a a a a a a 3 t t Ia a From 15 to 20 July 2012, Dr Paul-Samson Lusamba Dikassa, Director of APOC with Dr Laurent Yameogo conducted an impressive advocacy mission to Angola which was extensively diffused and picked up by the Angolan Press (www.portalansop.co.aolmotix/en us/noticias/saude/201216/29lAngola-has-conditio ) The last mission to Angola took place from 4 to 8 March 2013 where two APOC staff and two temporary advisers mainly field tested the revised training module on APOC Philosophy and CDTI/CDlstrategy. During three sessions, the Technical Consultative Committee (TCC) of APOC thoroughly discussed the status of onchocerciasis control/elimination activities in Angola. Firstly, at its 23'd session in September 2006, TCC encouraged the national coordinator to launch the remaining CDTI projects in the loiasis co-endemic areas and to improve on report writing. ln September 2072, The TCC members urged the Angolan authorities, Committee of Sponsoring Agencies (CSA), the Joint Action Forum (JAF), Non-Governmental Development Organizations (NGDOs), and other stakeholders, to preserve the gains of the programme, protect the health of the people of Angola and avoid the spread of the disease to the neighbouring countries and throughout the African region due to the facts that (1) the reports do not meet the standards expected by TCC in terms of content; (2) most of the reports have vital information missing making it impossible for the TCC to judge the performance of the projects and (3) most of the project performance indicators were far from satisfactory. TCC diligently requested that the Angolan National Authorities ensure that donation of ivermectin made by Merck be exempted from customs duties according to the agreement in APOC MOU which Angola had signed. Finally, during the last session of March 2013, TCC agreed noted the forthcoming joint mission in June 2013 and acknowledged the appointment of a second technical adviser to Angola. ln addition, the Committee recommended that the mission team consider putting an emphasis on strengthening the peripheral levels through the possible in-country partnership between Sightsavers and WVA as well as CBM and SOLE/BOA VISTA. TCC also suggested conducting a preliminary advocacy to the Minister of Health of Angola during the forthcoming 66th session of the World Health Assembly (WHA66) in May 2013, using the adoption of new resolutions from NTD and PBD where onchocerciasis is included. The current mission has been suggested by Sightsavers in order to strengthen APOC partnership in Angola by the signing of a MOU with World Vision Angola. Towards this end, APOC Management was requested to take the lead in organizing the joint mission. Both CBM and MDP agreed to participate in this joint mission, The NGDO Group Responsible Officer from WHO/PBD in Geneva was also requested to join the joint team. Obiectives The overall objective of the joint mission is to improve CDTI performance in Angola in order to meet the 2020 NTD goals. Specific objectives include: 1. To assess the organizational structures of the country and the best channels to use for efficiency and effectiveness; 2. To review human resource needs and agree with the authorities on steps for reinforcemenq 4 lr 3. To explore ways of strengthening the capacities of the national coordinator for onchocerciasis/NTD programme with regard to his leadership as well as his skill's capabilities in coordination and collaboration efforts. 4. To reinforce in country partnership between Sightsavers and WVA as well as CBM and SOLE/BOA VISTA with the aim of improving performance 5. To investigate other opportunities for collaboration with other NGOs and private sector 6. To reiterate the agreement on "free entry of ivermectin without imposing duty, tax, or other costs" as stipulated in APOC MOU. 7. To follow up on the forthcoming NTD & PBD Resolutions which will be adopted during the 66th session of the World Health Assembly (WHA66) in May 2013. Proposed dates of the mission: lf possible, potential members of the mission have agreed to undertake this mission from 10 to 14 June 2013, pending the agreement from the MOH of Angola. Mission team The joint mission team will be comprised of 6 people as follows: 1,. Dr Laurent Yameogo, Coordinator at APOC Director's Office, APOC, Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) -Team Leader 2. Dr Tony Ukety, Responsible Officer, NGDO Coordination Group for Onchocerciasis Elimination, Prevention of Blindness and Deafness, WHO, Geneva (Switzerland) 3. DrAdrian Hopkins, Director of Mectizan Donation Program (MDP), Atlanta (USA) 4. Mr Simon Bush, Director Advocacy & NTDs, Sightsavers, Accra (Ghana) 5. Dr Martin Kollmann, Director for NTD, Christoffel Blinden Mission (CBM), Central & East Africa Regional Office, Nairobi (Kenya) 6. Mr lzidine Hassane, Country Director, Sightsavers, Maputo (Mozambique) References 7. Reports of the 23'd, 35th, 36th sessions of the Technical Consultative Committee of APOC 2. Various reports of missions to Angola 3. Reports on NTDs by the WHO Country Office 4. Report on onchocerciasis by World Vision lnternational 5. Travel Report Summaries from WHO Staff 6. Recent email exchanges on Angola 5 f ANNEXE Mission team The joint mission team will be comprised of 6 people as follows: l Dr Laurent Yameogo, Coordinator at APOC Director Office, APOC, Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) - Team Leader. Email address: yameosol@who.int 2. Dr Tony Ukety, Responsible Officer, NGDO Coordination Group for Onchocerciasis Elimination, Prevention of Blindness and Deafness, WHO, Geneva (Switzerland). Email address: ukett@who.int 3. Dr Adrian Hopkins, Director of Mectizan Donation Program (MDP), Atlanta (USA). Email address: Ahopkins@taskforce.ore 4. Mr Simon Bush, Director Advocacy & NTDs, Sightsavers, Accra (Ghana). Email address SBush@si ghtsavers.org 5. Dr Martin Kollmann, Director for NTD, Christoffel Blinden Mission (CBM), Central & East Africa Regional Office, Nairobi (Kenya). Email address: mkollmann@cbmi-nbo.org & khm.kol lmann@gmail.com Mr Izidine Hassane, Country Director, Sightsavers, Maputo (Mozambique). Email address: ihassane@si ghtsavers. org 6