Consultancy to Develop a Malaria Epidemic Preparedness and Response Guidelines
Jhpiego
·Today
- Location
- Kigali, RW
- Education
- Master
- Closing date
- Today
- Source
- iCIMS
Description
Overview
TERMS OF REFERENCE
Consultancy to Develop a Malaria Epidemic Preparedness and Response Guidelines
Jhpiego, through the RISE Malaria Project, in collaboration with RBC/MOPDD and the Ministry of Health
Assignment type
Individual consultant or consulting team
Proposed duration
45 working days from contract signature
Duty station
Kigali, Rwanda, with consultations and field visits to selected districts.
The consultancy is open to both national and international individual consultants or consulting teams.
1. Background and rationale
The Government of Rwanda, through the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), and specifically the Malaria and Other Parasitic Diseases Division (MOPDD), continues to implement evidence-based interventions to reduce malaria morbidity and mortality and sustain progress towards malaria elimination. The national malaria response includes vector control, malaria prevention, early diagnosis and effective treatment, surveillance, social and behaviour change, and programme monitoring and evaluation.
Malaria transmission and disease burden are not uniform across the country and can change over time in response to epidemiological, entomological, environmental, climatic, population-mobility and health-system factors. Malaria upsurges and epidemics require timely detection, risk assessment, verification, coordination and a rapid, well-resourced response. A malaria-specific preparedness and response framework is therefore needed to clarify early-warning indicators, alert thresholds and verification procedures; define roles and coordination arrangements; and guide the selection, implementation and monitoring of appropriate response measures at national, district, health-facility and community levels.
Rwanda's malaria response is implemented through established national and decentralized systems. The assignment must build on, and be aligned with, existing public health emergency preparedness and response structures, national surveillance and health information systems, district coordination mechanisms, and the roles of health facilities and Community Health Workers (CHWs). It should avoid creating parallel reporting or incident-management structures.
The assignment must explicitly document and build on Rwanda's current Reactive Case Detection (RCD) approach, the community-level notification of severe malaria cases, and the country's ongoing shift towards tailoring malaria interventions according to malaria incidence. These approaches should be assessed in terms of their current design, implementation arrangements, operational feasibility, data use, linkages across community, facility, district and national levels, and contribution to timely and targeted action.
In parallel, the existing Integrated Malaria Control Guidelines require a structured review and update to ensure that they reflect the latest applicable WHO recommendations, current national policies and approved treatment protocols, evolving malaria epidemiology, antimalarial drug-resistance considerations, and lessons from programme implementation. The updated guidelines should provide clear, practical guidance for national and subnational stakeholders, including health facilities and community-level service providers.
RBC/MOPDD therefore seeks to engage a qualified consultant to (i) develop a comprehensive, operational and costed Malaria Epidemic Preparedness and Response Plan for Rwanda and (ii) review and update the existing Integrated Malaria Control Guidelines, ensuring consistency between the two products.
2. Overall objective
The overall objective of the consultancy is to strengthen Rwanda's capacity to anticipate, detect, prepare for and respond effectively to malaria epidemics and significant malaria upsurges, while ensuring that national malaria guidelines current, evidence-based, harmonized and operationally relevant.
3. Specific objectives
- Document and incorporate Rwanda's incidence-informed approach to malaria intervention planning, including how incidence data and geographical stratification are used to select, prioritize, target and monitor intervention packages at national, district and sub-district levels.
- Review and strengthen the community-level notification pathway for severe malaria cases, including recognition, immediate referral, notification to the appropriate health-system levels, follow-up and feedback, while ensuring that notification procedures do not delay urgent referral and treatment.
- Assess and incorporate Rwanda's current Reactive Case Detection approach and its linkage to routine surveillance, case investigation, notification and follow-up, identifying opportunities to strengthen implementation and integration into the epidemic response framework.
Responsibilities
4. Scope of work and key tasks
4.1 Inception and desk review
- Hold an inception meeting with RBC/MOPDD, MoH and designated partners to confirm expectations, scope, methodology, key stakeholders, available data and reporting arrangements.
- Review relevant national and global documents, including the current Integrated Malaria Control Guidelines; the current/extended Rwanda Malaria Strategic Plan and any successor strategy approved during the assignment; relevant WHO malaria guidance; national health-sector and public health emergency preparedness frameworks; surveillance and response guidelines; and relevant partner-supported assessments.
- Review available malaria surveillance and programme data, including trends in confirmed cases, test positivity, admissions and deaths, reporting completeness and timeliness, case distribution, intervention coverage, therapeutic efficacy and resistance information, and commodity availability, subject to data access and quality.
- Review existing malaria alert thresholds, epidemic definitions, reporting pathways, outbreak investigation procedures, district response arrangements, and lessons learned from previous malaria upsurges or response activities.
Review the methods and criteria currently used to classify geographical areas by malaria incidence and to guide the selection and allocation of interventions, including data sources, frequency of review, decision-making processes and monitoring arrangements.
Review existing community severe malaria notification mechanisms, including how suspected severe cases identified in communities are referred, notified, recorded, escalated and followed up, and how feedback is provided to CHWs and communities.
Review current RCD policies, protocols, tools and implementation experience, including triggers for investigation, operational procedures, roles of CHWs and health facilities, data flows, follow-up arrangements and links with routine surveillance.
- Prepare an inception report with a detailed methodology, stakeholder engagement plan, data needs, workplan, timeline and proposed structure of both deliverables.
4.2 Malaria epidemic risk assessment and preparedness review
- Conduct a national review of malaria epidemic and upsurge risks, including geographical variation and relevant risk factors. The analysis should use available data and should not assume that all districts or sectors have the same risk profile.
- Identify and describe high-risk or epidemic-prone areas using transparent criteria agreed with MOPDD. Consider historical malaria trends, seasonality, transmission patterns, population vulnerability and mobility, vector and insecticide-resistance information, climatic and environmental factors, and health-service readiness.
- Assess the strengths and gaps in malaria surveillance, data analysis and use, early-warning capacity, alert verification, laboratory and diagnostic capacity, case management, referral, community-level detection, risk communication, logistics and coordination.
Assess how malaria incidence data are translated into subnational intervention decisions, including the transparency and appropriateness of stratification criteria, the match between local risk and intervention packages, operational feasibility, equity considerations and the ability to adapt interventions as incidence changes.
Assess community severe malaria notification and referral pathways, including CHW capacity to recognize danger signs, communication channels, referral completion, notification timeliness, feedback loops, availability of referral services and potential barriers for caregivers.
Specifically assess the functionality and performance of the current RCD approach, including geographic and case-based triggers, completeness and timeliness of investigation, follow-up of identified cases, documentation, resource requirements and integration with routine surveillance and response.
- Map existing national and subnational structures, including MOPDD, relevant MoH/RBC units, district health teams, health facilities, CHWs, laboratories, emergency coordination structures and implementing partners.
- Review the availability, distribution, forecasting and contingency arrangements for essential malaria commodities, including diagnostic tests, antimalarial medicines, medicines for severe malaria, and vector-control commodities, in line with national policies.
- Undertake consultations and, where agreed, field visits to selected districts and health facilities to validate findings and understand operational realities.
4.3 Development of the Malaria Epidemic Preparedness and Response Guidelines
- Develop a clear national framework for preparedness, readiness, detection, alert notification, verification, risk assessment, classification, escalation, response activation, response management, recovery and after-action review.
- Review and propose context-appropriate early-warning indicators, alert thresholds and escalation criteria using historical data, national surveillance definitions and WHO guidance. All proposed thresholds and trigger points must be discussed and validated with MOPDD and relevant national technical structures before finalization.
- Define standard procedures and timelines for routine monitoring, alert detection, notification, verification, investigation, risk assessment and communication between community, health-facility, district and national levels.
Specify the community severe malaria notification pathway, including immediate referral, timely notification to health facilities and district teams, escalation of unusual patterns or clusters, recording, follow-up and feedback. The plan must clearly state that notification is complementary to, and must never delay, urgent referral and life-saving treatment.
Define how the existing Reactive Case Detection approach will be triggered, implemented, documented and monitored during routine surveillance and periods of increased transmission, including the roles of CHWs, health facilities and district teams, case investigation and follow-up procedures, reporting tools and escalation pathways. The plan should strengthen and align with the existing national approach rather than establish a parallel system.
- Define roles and responsibilities of national and subnational actors, including coordination and links with existing Incident Management Team (IMT) or emergency operations arrangements. Include a responsibility matrix (RACI or equivalent) and escalation pathways.
- Develop a tiered response framework that describes actions appropriate to the level and geographical extent of the alert or outbreak, including actions at community, health-facility, district and national levels.
Develop an incidence-informed response and intervention matrix showing how validated incidence patterns and agreed risk categories can guide the selection, prioritization, geographical targeting and scale-up or adaptation of interventions. The matrix should identify the relevant decision-making level, data requirements, intervention options, responsible actors and monitoring indicators. Any incidence bands, thresholds or policy implications must be agreed and validated by RBC/MOPDD and the competent national authorities.
- Specify the evidence-informed response options to be considered according to local epidemiology and risk, including strengthened surveillance and case investigation, quality diagnosis and treatment, severe malaria case management and referral, targeted vector control, risk communication and community engagement, and other interventions approved by national authorities.
- Include procedures for monitoring case-management quality and health-service readiness during an upsurge, including availability of trained personnel, diagnostics, antimalarial medicines, severe malaria commodities, referral arrangements and continuity of essential services.
- Develop arrangements for commodity security, stock monitoring, forecasting, redistribution, emergency procurement and logistics coordination, in collaboration with the relevant national supply-chain actors.
- Define risk communication and community engagement approaches, including timely communication to health workers, local authorities, CHWs, communities, media and partners, consistent with national risk-communication mechanisms.
- Include cross-border and inter-district coordination considerations where relevant, including information sharing and coordination with neighbouring jurisdictions.
- Develop a costed operational preparedness and response plan, with indicative resource requirements, responsible entities, implementation timelines and potential financing sources. Costs should be transparent and based on agreed assumptions.
- Develop a monitoring, evaluation and learning framework with indicators for preparedness, timeliness of detection and response, implementation fidelity, commodity readiness, service continuity and response outcomes.
- Include arrangements for simulation exercises, orientation, periodic review, documentation of lessons learned and after-action reviews.
4.4 Review and update of the Integrated Malaria Control Guidelines
- Conduct a structured technical review of the existing Integrated Malaria Control Guidelines and prepare a gap analysis identifying sections requiring revision, clarification, addition or removal.
- Review and incorporate the latest applicable WHO recommendations and evidence, while ensuring that all clinical and public health recommendations are consistent with Rwanda's approved national policies, treatment protocols and decisions.
- Update relevant sections on malaria prevention and vector control; diagnosis; treatment of uncomplicated malaria; management and referral of severe malaria; malaria in pregnancy and other vulnerable groups; community-level prevention, diagnosis and treatment; surveillance, reporting and response; monitoring and evaluation; and programme implementation.
- Ensure that recommendations on antimalarial medicines reflect the latest nationally approved treatment policy, including the Multiple First-Line Therapy (MFT) approach and any approved implementation updates. The consultant must not independently change treatment regimens or policy; proposed changes must be clearly flagged for review and formal approval by the competent national authorities.
- Review and update guidance on therapeutic efficacy monitoring, antimalarial drug-resistance surveillance and response, including the appropriate use of molecular and therapeutic efficacy evidence in policy and programme decisions.
- Integrate practical guidance on malaria alerts, upsurges and epidemic response, including links to the Malaria Epidemic Preparedness and Response Plan, roles at different health-system levels, service continuity, commodity readiness and reporting.
Reflect Rwanda's incidence-informed approach to malaria programming by providing practical guidance on the use of incidence data and subnational stratification to prioritize, target and adapt interventions. Clarify how data should inform decisions at different levels while ensuring that intervention choices remain consistent with nationally approved policies and available evidence.
Include clear guidance on community notification of severe malaria cases, covering recognition of danger signs, immediate referral, communication and notification channels, documentation, escalation, follow-up and feedback to CHWs. Emphasize that notification must not delay immediate referral or treatment.
Review and update the guidance on Reactive Case Detection, ensuring that it reflects the current national approach, clearly defines when and where RCD should be conducted, the roles of CHWs and health-facility teams, case investigation and follow-up procedures, recording and reporting requirements, and links with routine surveillance and response.
- Ensure that recommendations are operationally clear for the intended audiences, including national and district programme teams, health-facility providers and CHWs, with roles and responsibilities clearly distinguished.
- Prepare a change matrix showing existing guidance, proposed revisions, rationale and supporting evidence/source for each substantive change.
- Ensure consistent terminology, definitions, algorithms, tables, figures, references and cross-references throughout the revised guidelines. Identify any job aids, annexes or standard operating procedures that should be updated or developed to support implementation.
4.5 Validation, finalization and capacity building
- Present the draft epidemic preparedness and response plan and revised Integrated Malaria Control Guidelines to MOPDD and relevant technical stakeholders for review.
- Facilitate a joint validation workshop or structured technical review process, as agreed with RBC/MOPDD, involving relevant MoH/RBC units, district representatives, health workers, CHW representatives, technical partners and other stakeholders.
- Document feedback and provide a response matrix showing how comments were addressed or why specific suggestions were not incorporated.
- Finalize both documents and associated operational tools, incorporating agreed feedback and ensuring alignment with national formats and approval processes.
- Conduct an orientation session for designated national and subnational stakeholders on the key components and practical use of the plan and updated guidelines.
- Submit editable source files and publication-ready versions, including presentation materials and any agreed tools or annexes.
5. Expected deliverables and indicative timeline
The consultancy is expected to be completed within 45 working days. The timeline below is indicative and will be finalized in the inception report. Deliverables will be reviewed and approved by RBC/MOPDD and designated MoH counterparts.
Deliverable
Description / minimum content
Indicative timing
1. Inception report
Detailed methodology, document/data review matrix, stakeholder consultation plan, field-visit plan, deliverable outline and detailed workplan.
4 working days
2. Desk review and malaria epidemic risk assessment report
Review of existing policies, strategies, guidelines, surveillance and response systems; malaria risk profile; mapping of high-risk/epidemic-prone areas using agreed criteria; capacity and gap analysis; key recommendations.
10 working days
3. Draft Malaria Epidemic Preparedness and Response Plan
Complete draft plan covering early warning, alert thresholds and verification, risk assessment, coordination, roles, response actions, commodity security, risk communication, costing, monitoring and recovery/after-action review. Include draft SOPs, algorithms or tools as agreed.
10 working days
4. Draft updated Integrated Malaria Control Guidelines
Revised guidelines with updated technical content, algorithms, tables, references and practical guidance; a change matrix and evidence/source references; clear integration with the epidemic preparedness and response plan.
10 working days
5. Validation workshop and revised drafts
Presentation materials, workshop/technical review report, attendance list where applicable, consolidated comments and response matrix, and revised versions of both documents.
3 working days
6. Final documents and orientation package
Final Malaria Epidemic Preparedness and Response Plan; final updated Integrated Malaria Control Guidelines; costed implementation matrix; agreed annexes/tools; orientation presentation and materials; editable source files and publication-ready PDFs.
5 working days
7. Final consultancy report
Summary of methodology, consultations, outputs submitted, feedback incorporated, outstanding issues requiring policy decision, and recommendations for implementation, dissemination and periodic review.
3 working days
Note: The timing represents the proposed sequencing and level of effort. Some tasks may run in parallel, subject to approval by RBC/MOPDD. The final deliverables must be accepted in writing by the designated technical focal point.
6. Duration, location and working arrangements
The assignment is expected to take 45 working days from the date of contract signature. The consultant will be based in Kigali, Rwanda, and will work closely with RBC/MOPDD and designated MoH counterparts. A combination of in-person and remote work may be used. The assignment will include consultations and field visits to selected districts and health facilities, as agreed during inception. Travel within Rwanda will be planned and approved in advance by the contracting institution.
7. Management, supervision and coordination
The consultant will report to the designated Jhpiego/RISE Malaria Project focal person and work under the technical guidance of RBC/MOPDD, in close coordination with the Ministry of Health and relevant national technical stakeholders. Jhpiego/RISE, in coordination with RBC/MOPDD, will facilitate access, as appropriate, to relevant documents, available programme data and stakeholders. The consultant will be responsible for planning consultations, documenting decisions, maintaining regular communication and submitting deliverables according to the agreed workplan.
Required Qualifications
8. Required qualifications and experience (individual consultant)
- A postgraduate degree (Master's or higher) in Epidemiology, Public Health, Tropical Medicine, Infectious Disease Epidemiology or another relevant health-related discipline.
- At least seven (7) years of relevant professional experience in malaria prevention and control, malaria surveillance, epidemiology, public health emergency preparedness and response, or related fields.
- Demonstrated experience in developing or reviewing national/subnational malaria strategies, epidemic preparedness and response plans, surveillance frameworks, technical guidelines or operational tools.
- Strong technical knowledge of malaria epidemiology, surveillance, outbreak/epidemic detection and response, malaria prevention and vector control, diagnosis, case management and severe malaria.
- Demonstrated experience in reviewing and updating clinical or public health guidelines in line with WHO recommendations and national policy requirements.
- Knowledge of malaria drug resistance, therapeutic efficacy monitoring and current treatment-policy considerations, including MFT, is an advantage.
- Experience working with Ministries of Health, national malaria programmes, public health institutes, district health teams and development partners in Rwanda or comparable settings.
- Experience in costing operational plans, developing implementation matrices, monitoring frameworks and practical tools is an advantage.
- Excellent analytical, report-writing, facilitation and stakeholder-engagement skills.
- Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of Kinyarwanda and/or French is an asset.
9. Required qualifications and experience for consultant teams
The assignment may be undertaken by an individual consultant or a multidisciplinary consulting team. Where a consulting team or firm is proposed, the team should demonstrate complementary expertise and sufficient technical capacity to deliver all components of the assignment.
9.1 Overall team qualifications and experience
The consulting team should collectively demonstrate:
- A postgraduate degree (Master's or higher) in Epidemiology, Public Health, Tropical Medicine, Infectious Disease Epidemiology or another relevant health-related discipline among its core members.
- At least seven (7) years of relevant professional experience in malaria prevention and control, malaria surveillance, epidemiology, public health emergency preparedness and response, or related fields.
- Demonstrated experience in developing or reviewing national/subnational malaria strategies, epidemic preparedness and response plans, surveillance frameworks, technical guidelines or operational tools.
- Strong technical knowledge of malaria epidemiology, surveillance, outbreak/epidemic detection and response, malaria prevention and vector control, diagnosis, case management and severe malaria.
- Demonstrated experience in reviewing and updating clinical or public health guidelines in line with WHO recommendations and national policy requirements.
- Experience working with Ministries of Health, National Malaria Programmes, public health institutes, district health teams and development partners in Rwanda or comparable settings.
- Experience in costing operational plans, developing implementation matrices, monitoring frameworks and practical implementation tools.
- Excellent analytical, report-writing, facilitation and stakeholder-engagement skills.
9.2 Team composition and language requirements
- The consulting team should clearly identify a Team Leader/Lead Consultant responsible for overall technical coordination, quality assurance and timely delivery of the assignment.
- Each team member's role, responsibilities, qualifications and relevant experience should be clearly described.
- The team should demonstrate adequate capacity to undertake stakeholder consultations, field visits, technical analysis, document development and validation workshops within the proposed 45 working days.
- Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of Kinyarwanda and/or French is an asset, particularly for stakeholder consultations and engagement with subnational teams.
- Knowledge of malaria drug resistance, therapeutic efficacy monitoring and current treatment-policy considerations, including Multiple First-Line Therapy (MFT), is an added advantage.
10. Required technical and financial proposal
Interested consultants should submit:
- A cover letter expressing interest and availability.
- An updated CV highlighting relevant assignments and technical expertise including team composition and relevant CVs when applying as a company or group.
- For consulting firms or teams, a proposed team structure identifying the Team Leader and key technical experts, their respective roles and responsibilities, level of effort, and individual CVs demonstrating their qualifications and relevant experience.
- A technical proposal describing understanding of the assignment, proposed methodology, approach to stakeholder engagement, quality assurance and a realistic workplan.
- At least two examples of relevant previous work, such as malaria epidemic preparedness and response plans, national malaria guidelines, surveillance frameworks or similar public health technical documents.
- A financial proposal with a clear and itemized budget, including professional fees, proposed level of effort, travel and other assignment-related costs. Any assumptions should be stated.
- Contact details for at least two professional referees.
11. Evaluation criteria
Proposals may be evaluated using the following indicative technical criteria. The contracting institution may adjust the weighting and minimum qualifying score in accordance with its procurement procedures.
Criterion
Weight (%)
Academic qualifications and relevant professional experience
15
Technical expertise in malaria epidemiology, surveillance and epidemic preparedness/response
25
Experience developing/reviewing national malaria guidelines, policies or strategies
20
Understanding of Rwanda's malaria programme and health-system context
10
Quality of proposed methodology, stakeholder engagement and workplan
20
Relevant writing samples and demonstrated facilitation/communication skills
10
Total technical score
100
12. Ownership, confidentiality and approval
All documents, data, tools and materials produced under this assignment will be managed in accordance with the contract between Jhpiego and the consultant. The Government of Rwanda will retain authority over national policy content and official approval of the plan and guidelines. The consultant must maintain confidentiality of all non-public information and may not publish or disseminate outputs without prior written authorization. The consultant must ensure appropriate referencing of sources and must not include identifiable personal or patient information in reports or presentations.
The consultant will not make or imply changes to national clinical policy or treatment recommendations. Any proposed policy or treatment changes must be clearly identified, supported by evidence and submitted for consideration through the relevant national technical and approval mechanisms. Final documents will be considered complete only after review and formal approval by the competent Rwandan authorities.
13. Reference documents to be made available/consulted
- WHO AFRO consultancy reference: Consultant – Epidemiologist, Malaria Epidemic Prevention and Control (2023).
- RBC, current Integrated Malaria Control Guidelines (latest approved version available at the time of the assignment).
- Rwanda Malaria Strategic Plan 2026-2030
- Rwanda Health Sector Strategic Plan V (2024/25–2028/29) and relevant national public health emergency preparedness and response frameworks.
- Relevant WHO malaria guidelines, surveillance standards, epidemic preparedness and response guidance, and current recommendations on malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
- Relevant national surveillance, case management, vector control, commodity management, therapeutic efficacy and antimalarial drug-resistance documents.
Institutional Roles and Coordination
- Jhpiego – RISE Malaria Project: Commission and manage the consultancy, designate the day-to-day focal person, coordinate the assignment, provide relevant project documents, and facilitate engagement with stakeholders.
- RBC/MOPDD, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and other relevant national structures, will serve as the principal national technical counterpart, provide technical and policy guidance, facilitate access to relevant malaria data and stakeholders, participate in the review and validation of the draft and final deliverables. Official national endorsement and approval of the final documents will remain the responsibility of the Government of Rwanda.
- Consultant or consulting team (consulting firm) : Lead the technical work, consult relevant stakeholders, prepare the plan and revised guidelines, incorporate feedback, and submit all agreed deliverables to Jhpiego/RISE.
Contract management and day-to-day coordination will be led by Jhpiego through the RISE Malaria Project. Technical content will be developed in close consultation with RBC/MOPDD and relevant Ministry of Health structures. The consultant should not independently establish or revise national epidemic thresholds, treatment policies, or other normative recommendations; any proposed changes must be supported by evidence and submitted to the competent national authorities for review and approval.
Preferred Qualifications
Shortlisting will be done on a rolling basis.
Jhpiego offers competitive salaries and a comprehensive employee benefits package.
Please apply at www.jobs-jhpiego.icims.com
Applicants must submit a single document for upload to include: cover letter, resume, and references.
For further information about Jhpiego, visit our website at www.jhpiego.org
Note: The successful candidate selected for this position will be subject to a pre-employment background investigation.
Jhpiego is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer
“Jhpiego, a Johns Hopkins University affiliate, is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of gender, marital status, pregnancy, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, other legally protected characteristics or any other occupationally irrelevant criteria. Jhpiego promotes Affirmative Action for minorities, women, individuals who are disabled, and veterans.
EEO is the Law
Application Deadline: November 19, 2026
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