Technical Officer, Laboratory Services

The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations Public Health Organization established in 1948. The objective of the World Health Organization shall be the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health.
World Health Organization achieves its goals by performing its essential functions:
1. Take a leadership role in key health issues and create partnerships when joint action is needed;
2. Set research priorities and encourage the acquisition, application and dissemination of useful knowledge;
3. Setting standards and criteria and encouraging and monitoring them;
4. Develop ethical and evidence-based policies
5. Provide technical support, be an agent of change and build institutional capacity in a sustainable way;
6. Monitor health status and assess health trends.

The overall objective of the Diagnostic and Laboratory Services Unit is to provide leadership and action in supporting Member States to strengthen the quality, safety, and efficacy of diagnostic and laboratory services for the prevention, detection, investigation, monitoring and eradication of diseases. This contributes to building and sustaining resilient health systems that provide equitable access to quality essential health services to people across the life course using people-centered approaches towards the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in the WHO African Region. The Unit supports countries in translating national laboratory policies, strategies, plans and guidelines into actions in the following areas: strengthening of human resource capacities; laboratory-based surveillance and control activities; evidence-based selection and rational use of diagnostics and laboratory technologies; expansion of access to biomedical engineering services, diagnostic imaging and other diagnostics; establishment of regional laboratory networks; promotion of the integration agenda in the synergistic implementation of laboratory-based interventions, strategies and programmes; and support to the resource mobilization efforts of Member States. The goal is to enable countries in the WHO African Region to ensure evidence-based policies and strategies are in place to achieve universal access to high-quality, integrated, people-centered health services, increase the coverage and quality of effective interventions, and to create mechanisms to measure the impact of those strategies and interventions.

• Support the development and implementation of regional strategies and plans for strengthening national laboratory services, in close collaboration with other team members and laboratory staff covering related disciplines in other AFRO programmes, in order to ensure efficiency and synergy in addressing the health needs of people across the life course, while collaborating with HQ and external partners;
• Support the review of national regulations, norms and standards for diagnostics and health laboratories;
• Support capacity-building of countries for functional, national health laboratory systems;
• Manage regional networks of laboratories;
• Support the development of related workplans and budgetary proposals as required within the framework of WHO staff Rules and Regulations, financial rules and AFRO accepted procedures.
• Collaborate with Clusters and units and provide support for the implementation of programmes and projects with laboratory component;
• Provide technical support to countries to enhance their laboratory-based preparedness and response as part of the core capacity building for the International Health Regulations, in collaboration with the EPR Cluster;
• Support the development and implementation of quality programmes for diagnostic and laboratory services, including national and external quality-control programs, biosafety, maintenance, and metrology;
• Produce regular reporting on laboratory systems and services in the Region, including the preparation and submission of regular progress reports and document key achievements and best practices on laboratory systems;
• Promote the development and implementation of regulatory functions for diagnostic and laboratory services;
• Contribute to resource mobilization for the Cluster’s programmes, in collaboration with EPG, ORD and WCOs;
• Perform other related responsibilities as assigned, including replacing and backstopping for others as required.