Internship - Child Health And Development Unit Hq/Mca

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The objectives of the Child Health and Development Unit (CHD) of the department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Aging (MCA) are to generate and synthesize evidence, develop public health recommendations and delivery models, support implementation, and measure impact of policies and interventions that optimize the survival, health, and Development of children (1 month – 9 years).

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

Despite a significant decrease in neonatal mortality rate over the past few decades, an estimated 2.5 million neonatal deaths still occur worldwide every year, representing 47% of under-five deaths. Bacterial infections such as sepsis, meningitis, and pneumonia account for 37% of neonatal deaths in the low-resource settings of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. In 2012, there were an estimated 6.9 million cases of possible serious bacterial infection (PSBI) in neonates, of which 0.68 million resulted in death, representing a case fatality rate (CFR) of 9.8%.
Early diagnosis of PSBI requires recognition of clinical signs of bacterial sepsis. However, identifying serious bacterial and viral infections in neonates and infants up to two months of age is difficult. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that young infants with any sign of PSBI should be treated with injectable antibiotics and supportive care at the hospital. WHO Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) chart booklet recommends seven signs for urgent referral to the hospital. Unfortunately, in many low-resource settings, families do not accept referral advice, and sick young infants are not taken to the hospital. In 2015, WHO launched a guideline for “Managing Possible Serious Bacterial Infection in Young Infants When Referral Is Not Feasible” to address this situation. The guideline recommends that sick young infants with signs of PSBI be hospitalized for management. However, if referral is not feasible, young infants with signs of clinical severe infection can be managed with a simplified antibiotic regimen of injectable gentamicin plus oral amoxicillin on an outpatient basis. To further improve the treatment strategies for sick young infants, it is pertinent to analyze the mortality risk of clinical signs, individually or in combination, of PSBI using a pooled dataset from various clinical trials and observational studies related to PSBI management in young infants in Africa and Asia.

Under the supervision of a technical expert in the respective area, the intern is assigned the agreed terms of reference:

• review the de-identified study dataset from clinical trials and observational studies
• develop a common database to amalgamate various study datasets pooled
• prepare an analysable pooled dataset containing demographic, clinical features, and outcome variables
• conduct descriptive analysis to examine the accuracy of the dataset
• determine the case fatality risk of clinical signs, individually or in combination, of the PSBI by age, gender, site, and other characteristics
• prepare a draft manuscript and, after feedback, finalize the manuscript for publication

Learning objectives

Within this internship, the intern will:

• understand the objectives and aim of the area of work/research project
• know how to conduct literature review around key research questions
• understand how to prepare a comprehensive data analysis plan
• know how to prepare an analytic dataset
• know how to conduct data analysis by using already collected datasets
• understand how to write a research manuscript using research data
• know how to present the key findings

DURATION OF INTERNSHIP

12 weeks - tentative start date 1st June 2024

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

The chosen candidate should have completed the equivalent of three years of full-time studies at a university or equivalent institution prior to commencing the assignment; AND be enrolled in a course of study in Public Health/Epidemiology/Biostatistics at a university or equivalent institution leading to a formal qualification (applicants who have already graduated may also qualify for consideration provided that they apply to the internship within six months after completion of their formal qualification).

Knowledge of data analysis packages (STATA, Excel, R or a similar statistical package not used primarily as a teaching tool for statistics) is required. Knowledge of the literature on the management of PSBI, including the diagnosis, in-patient and outpatient treatment and follow-up, is an advantage.

Skills

• Core competencies
• Team work
• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
• Communication

All interns should be able to demonstrate the following skills in line with the WHO core competencies:

• Communicating effectively orally and in writing
• Showing willingness to learn from mistakes
• Producing and delivering quality results
• Working collaboratively with team members

In addition, interns need to be familiar with commonly used computer programmes, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint. Knowledge of specialized computer programmes, for example, statistical software such as R, STATA, SPSS or SAS may be an advantage.

Experience

• Experience in research and/or in drafting reports
• Experience in the subject area through academic work or research
• Experience with data analysis, statistical packages and interest in the design of graphical display and analysis of health information in an international comparative perspective, such as for the burden of disease
• Ability to produce slide sets using PowerPoint or other data visualization tools

LANGUAGES

Essential: Expert knowledge of English.
Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of French. Intermediate knowledge of other UN language.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Interns do not receive a salary. They do however receive a living allowance. The allowance depends on the duty station and other external support (grant, scholarships, etc.) received by the intern. In Geneva, the maximum amount of the allowance provided by WHO is CHF 1680 per month. The exact amount of the living allowance will be calculated for each intern, after selection, based on a legal financial disclosure form that the individual will complete. In addition, all interns in Geneva will receive a lumpsum of CHF 20 for each working day to buy lunch at WHO campus or elsewhere. WHO also provides all interns with accident and medical insurance coverage.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Please note that internships at WHO are very competitive and only a small number of applicants will be accepted every year. Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
• Living abroad is expensive and finding accommodation can be challenging. All intern candidates should be aware of these factors before they consider applying for a WHO Internship.
• If selected for a WHO Internship, candidates will be required to provide certified copies of proof of enrolment in an eligible course of studies, a completed WHO medical certificate of fitness for work, and the contact details for reference checks.
• Interns are not eligible to take up a consultant or other non-staff contract in WHO for a period of three months following the end of the internship. However, no such restriction applies to temporary or longer-term staff positions if the vacancy has been advertised and a competitive process completed.
• WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter (https://www.who.int/about/values) into practice.
• WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of final candidates.
• The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The WHO recruits and employs staff regardless of disability status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, race, marital status, religious, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, or any other personal characteristics.
• The WHO is committed to achieving gender parity and geographical diversity in its workforce. Women, persons with disabilities, and nationals of unrepresented and underrepresented Member States (https://www.who.int/careers/diversity-equity-and-inclusion) are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Persons with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations to enable participation in the recruitment process. Requests for reasonable accommodation should be sent through an email to reasonableaccommodation@who.int
• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
• Please note that WHO’s contracts are conditional on members of the workforce confirming that they are vaccinated as required by WHO before undertaking a WHO assignment, except where a medical condition does not allow such vaccination, as certified by the WHO Staff Health and Wellbeing Services (SHW). The successful candidate will be asked to provide relevant evidence related to this condition. A copy of the updated vaccination card must be shared with WHO medical service in the medical clearance process. Please note that certain countries require proof of specific vaccinations for entry or exit. For example, official proof /certification of yellow fever vaccination is required to enter many countries. Country-specific vaccine recommendations can be found on the WHO international travel and Staff Health and Wellbeing website. For vaccination-related queries please directly contact SHW directly at shws@who.int.