Continuum of Treatment Officer – HIV and TB

Company Description

Job Description
Job title:                                       Continuum of Treatment Officer – HIV and TB
Primary manager:                     Senior HIV/TB Sustainability Manager
Technical Manager:                  Senior Technical Advisor Continuum of Treatment
Location:                                      Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Manyara, Dodoma, Singida, Tabora and Kagera

Summary

The Continuum of Treatment Officer will support the implementation of strategies to ensure that clients diagnosed with HIV or TB are promptly linked to appropriate treatment and care services, retained in care, and supported to achieve optimal treatment outcomes in EGPAF supported sites. The continuum of officer will provide technical and programmatic support to health facilities and community teams to strengthen the continuum of treatment from diagnosis and linkage to care, treatment initiation, retention, adherence, viral suppression/TB treatment completion, and appropriate transition across services. The officer will work closely with facility health care providers, community health workers, peer supporters, district and regional health management teams, and EGPAF program staff to identify gaps in the treatment cascade and implement targeted actions to address missed appointments, interruption in treatment, loss to follow-up, and other barriers to continuity of care.

Essential Duties and Key Responsibilities

Linkage to HIV and TB Care and Treatment

• Strengthen facility and community mechanisms for ensuring that newly diagnosed HIV and TB clients are immediately and appropriately linked to treatment and care services.
• Monitor clients diagnosed through different service delivery points to ensure completion of the linkage pathway.
• Support facilities to establish and maintain effective linkage registers, referral mechanisms, client tracking systems, and documentation practices.
• Work with health care providers and community teams to identify clients who have not initiated treatment and facilitate timely follow-up.
• Support effective linkage of clients identified through HIV testing, PMTCT, TB, index testing, community testing, outreach, and other service delivery platforms.
• Strengthen bidirectional referral and linkage between HIV, TB, maternal and child health, adolescent, community, and other relevant services.

Retention and Continuity of Treatment

• Support facilities to implement evidence-based strategies for retention in HIV and TB treatment and care.
• Monitor appointment keeping, missed appointments, treatment interruptions, and loss to follow-up.
• Ensure systematic and timely follow-up of clients who miss scheduled appointments or treatment refills.
• Support facility teams to conduct appropriate interruption-in-treatment (IIT) tracing and re-engagement activities.
• Strengthen client-centered approaches to address barriers affecting retention, including mobility, stigma, treatment fatigue, access challenges, and other identified barriers.
• Promote differentiated service delivery and other appropriate service models that reduce unnecessary client burden while maintaining quality of care.
• Support timely re-engagement and clinical assessment of clients returning to care following treatment interruption.

Client Tracking and Case Management

• Establish and strengthen a systematic client tracking and case-management approach across supported facilities.
• Ensure that clients requiring additional support are appropriately identified, prioritized, and followed up.
• Use available facility and electronic data systems to generate client lists for linkage, missed appointments, IIT, and other priority follow-up.
• Support reconciliation of client information across relevant registers, databases, and electronic systems to minimize missed clients and duplicate records.
• Ensure confidentiality and appropriate handling of client information throughout the tracking and follow-up process.
• Support facility teams to document outcomes of all tracing and re-engagement efforts.

Data Use and Performance Monitoring

• Regularly analyze HIV and TB treatment cascade data to identify gaps in linkage, treatment initiation, retention, adherence, and treatment outcomes.
• Support facilities to develop and implement targeted improvement plans based on identified gaps. Monitor key indicators
• Conduct routine data quality checks and support timely correction of identified discrepancies.
• Use routine data to prioritize facilities, client populations, and service delivery points requiring intensified support.
• Prepare regular performance updates, dashboards, and technical reports for program management and relevant stakeholders.

Capacity building

• Provide on-site and virtual technical assistance, coaching, and mentorship to facility and district teams.
• Strengthen the capacity of health care workers and community teams on client linkage, retention, tracing, adherence support, and re-engagement.
• Support teams to use standardized tools and national guidelines for client tracking and treatment continuity.
• Facilitate review of treatment cascade performance during facility, district, and regional review meetings.
• Document successful approaches, implementation challenges, lessons learned, and innovations for program learning and adaptation.

Community and Client-Centered Approaches