Organizational Overview: The Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) is currently operating in Ethiopia carrying out a wide range of programs to support the Ministry of Health of Ethiopia in improving the health status of the country by ensuring access and quality of health services. We are committed to increasing our effectiveness through an innovative programming approach that optimizes quality, impact and scale. Being the largest CHAI field office worldwide, we currently employ over 170 staff working in the following eight programs: The Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNH), Access to Medicines, Lab Services, Vaccines, Global Health Financing, Human Resource for Health (HRH), Child Survival and Nutrition Programs.
Background: CHAI has launched a program to expand access to cancer treatment in Africa. The program focuses on market shaping and support to the governments of Nigeria and Ethiopia. We are building a small team of ambitious, creative individuals to design the strategy and drive the work.
The Problem: The state of cancer treatment in Africa today looks similar to that of HIV in the early 2000s. There are effective tools to diagnose and treat cancer, but access is largely limited to wealthy countries. Sub-Saharan Africa’s cancer burden is significant and growing. In 2012, there were an estimated 626,400 new cases of cancer and 447,700 deaths from cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa. Cancer incidence in Africa is projected to increase by 85% in the next fifteen years. Yet the global market for cancer treatment functions poorly for people with cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa, resulting in high prices and limited availability. Chemotherapy is not accessible to the vast majority of patients who need it, and more than half of the countries in Africa have no radiotherapy at all.
In Ethiopia, cancer accounts for 5.8% of total national mortality. The most prevalent cancers in Ethiopia are breast cancer (30%) and cervical cancer (13%). Annual cancer incidence is estimated to be 60,000, with 45,000 deaths- a mortality-incidence ratio (MIR) of 74%, nearly double that of e.g. Norway’s MIR of 38%. Cancer is twice as lethal in Sub-Saharan Africa as it is in many high-income countries, and this disparity in outcomes can and must be addressed. The mortality disparity for breast cancer is even greater, with thousands of Ethiopian women dying needlessly, due to a range of challenges, including low awareness, inadequate screening, weak diagnostic systems, and barriers to quality treatment services. These are exacerbated by systemic barriers, including market failures that reduce access to medicines and a lack of trained health workers.
Ethiopia faces a severe oncology human resource shortage: there are only 16 qualified active oncologists for a population of 100 million people. This makes it difficult for the vast majority of patients to access cancer treatment services, and the few that do face long wait times, as potentially curable tumors progress to advanced stages.
To address the challenges, FMOH is establishing six new cancer centers of excellence and is expanding breast cancer treatment to 11 hospitals across the country, while creating linkages to the national referral hospital for complex cases. Some of these 11 expansion hospitals currently provide basic breast cancer treatment services, but they require strengthened diagnostic and treatment services in order to improve both quality and increase the number of patients accessing treatment. Most of the expansion hospitals have never administered chemotherapy treatment and require support to develop quality cancer care services.
The newly launched three-year program, to strengthen and expand breast cancer treatment in Ethiopia, will complement and deepen the breast cancer treatment expansion trainings and ACS’ ChemoSafe program (a safe-handling and administration of chemotherapy training program, which targets nurses and pharmacists). This will help to ensure long-term impact through a specific focus on a) intensive mentorship on treatment provision, b) pathology strengthening, and c) supply chain management strengthening. While initial trainings on chemotherapy provision have occurred, there are key gaps around mentorship and supportive supervision, which are necessary to ensure that the new services are integrated into routine practice and that quality of care is maintained. In addition, this Program will introduce essential and complementary interventions around pathology and supply chain management, upon which a strong breast cancer treatment program depends.
Position Description
Responsibilities
CHAI is seeking an exceptional individual to join the cancer team for this newly launched three-year program, based in Addis Ababa with some travel around Ethiopia. The Associate will:
Qualifications:
We are seeking a highly motivated individual with an ability to think creatively and work effectively in an entrepreneurial environment. The Associate must be able to function independently and flexibly, solving problems as they arise. This role requires strong relationship management, program management skills and program implementation experience. CHAI places great value on the following qualities: resourcefulness, entrepreneurialism, tenacity, independence and work ethic.
Advantages:
Let Employers Find You
Upload/Update Your CVFeatured Jobs