Special Assistant to the Director at Global Access to Pain Relief Initiative (GAPRI)

The Global Access to Pain Relief Initiative (GAPRI) is a joint program of the Union for International Cancer Control and the American Cancer Society to make essential pain medicines universally available by 2020. GAPRI is working on a collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) to improve access to pain medicines in Nigeria and is looking for a capable pharmacist to lead the collaboration.

The Special Assistant to the Director for Access to Pain Relief will support the Director of the Food and Drug Services Department at the Federal Ministry of Health to implement a strategy to improve access to essential pain medicines. This position will support the Director in implementing the strategy objectives and work with others in the Federal Ministry of Health to integrate pain relief into ongoing activities.

Job Title: Special Assistant to the Director of Food and Drug Services for Access to Pain Relief

Location: Abuja

The position reports to the Director of the Global Access to Pain Relief Initiative and the Director of the Food and Drug Services Department.

Major Responsibilities

• Draft a strategic plan: The individual will work with FMOH and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to implement a strategic plan for improving access to essential pain medicines in Nigeria. This plan focuses on improving the quality of pain treatment and incorporates the elements described below.
• Drug Forecasting: The individual will work with the FMOH, other partners identified by the FMOH, and the GAPRI Headquarters team to develop a methodology and tools to do regular drug forecasts for opioid analgesics. These forecasts will be designed to estimate the demand for opioids to ensure that procured drugs will be consumed before expiration.
• Stock monitoring: The individual will support the FMOH to implement a system for monitoring stock in key facilities in Nigeria to ensure that stock levels are maintained and that central stocks are replenished before facilities exhaust their stocks. Tracking of consumption rates will also be used to refine the forecasting models.
• Supplier identification and negotiation: The individual will work with the FMOH, NAFDAC, and the GAPRI Headquarters team to identify potential suppliers and to assist with negotiation between the supplier and the FMOH to obtain the best terms for procurement. Items in the negotiation may include things like annual volume guarantees with staggered deliveries, streamlined or delayed registration in exchange for lower prices, or framework terms for other countries in the regions.
• Procurement: The individual will assist the FMOH with all aspects of procurement of opioid analgesics, including drafting documents, follow-up correspondence, forecasting and quantification, and other communications.
• Communication of availability: When opioids are available at the Central Medical Stores (CMS), the Individual will communicate their availability to end-users, such as pharmacists and hospital administrators. The Individual will serve as a central point of communication between end users and the FMOH and NAFDAC, answering questions, responding to problems, and communicating information.
• Facilitation of approvals: The individual will assist the FMOH and NAFDAC with streamlining the internal approvals required for a facility to procure opioids from CMS, while ensuring that products are not diverted.
• Stock tracking: The individual will work with the FMOH, NAFDAC, and end users to create a simple and inexpensive system that will track stock levels of opioid analgesics. The system will be used to inform drug demand forecasts and to detect aberrations in use that may be suggestive of diversion and require investigation.
• HIV/Cancer guidelines: The individual will work with the Cancer Control Program and the Nigeria Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) and their partners to integrate effective pain control into national cancer and HIV clinical guidelines.
• Medical training: The individual will coordinate with the Ministry of Education, university officials, and other local partners to integrate state-of-the-art training on pain relief into medical training programs, including nursing and medical school in-service training programs as well as continuing medical education programs. The individual will also seek funding to support clinical training on state-of-the-art pain treatment.
• Coordination with non-governmental organizations (NGOs): The individual will work with local NGOs that provide clinical services to increase and improve access to pain relief in their service delivery.
• Coordination with PEPFAR and NACA: The individual will work with the US Government’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and NACA to ensure that pain relief is integrated into all aspects of HIV service delivery including quantification and procurement, training, medical charting and data collection, and patient education and advocacy.
• Supporting Infrastructure Upgrades: The individual will work with the FMOH to upgrade the infrastructure for reconstituting morphine. The individual will support the Federal Manufacturing Laboratory, Yaba Lagos on the reconstitution of Oral Morphine Solution and the FMoH and FMS on the sales and distribution of the Oral Morphine Solution to facilities across the country.

Knowledge

• Understanding of and experience with public health management
• Working knowledge of the functioning of federal governmental structures
• Training and qualification in pharmacy

Skills

• Ability to grasp new things and work independently
• Excellent communications, analytical and business development skills
• Excellent ability to communicate across cultures and in different environments – nonprofit, government and business
• Excellent consulting and communication skills

Application Closing Date
1st February, 2013.

How To Apply
Interested candidates should send a curriculum vitae and cover letter to Dr. Meg O’Brien at: [email protected]