Ezinne V.C ONWUEKWE,

Program Officer

+234********** adlvkf@r.postjobfree.com LinkedIn

Plot 981, 64 Crescent, Gwarinpa Estate, Abuja

Program manager with 6 years’ experience in setting up public health systems in Africa focusing on Health Systems’ Strengthening, Capacity Building, Program Management and International Development whilst implementing evidence and data-driven health services and interventions, and fostering collaborations.

CORE COMPETENCIES & INTEREST

Data analytic skills and visualization: Excellent knowledge of analytics using Excel, R, Proficient in MS Office

Project Management: Presentation skills, Written communication, General administration, Report writing, Documentation, Problem solving and leadership skills, Budget management, Program delivery, business plans, proposal development, Grants Management, Human resources management, highly organized, critical thinking, operational planning

Capacity building: Ability to teach and mentor on new business processes and skills, Excellent communication and facilitation skills

Supply Chain Management

EDUCATION & CERTIFICATION

Bachelor of Pharmacy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Nigeria 2010 – 2014

Diploma in French language (DELF B1), International Centre for French Studies (CIEP) 2010

Certificate in Management and Leadership in Global Health, University of Washington 2020

Certificate in Global Mental Health, University of Washington 2021

Advanced Coursework: Medical Logistics in Pandemics, Public Health Emergency Management (PHEM), Health in Complex Humanitarian Emergency, Foundations for Global Health Responders, Foundations for Global Health Specialization, Epidemiology for Public Health Specialization, Statistical Analysis with R for Public Health Specialization,

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Public Health Fellow – Preparedness and Response Nov 2017 – Present

Africa Centres for Disease Prevention and Control (Africa CDC) Southern Regional Office- Specialized public health Institution of the African Union

Spearheading collaborative efforts on the development and maintenance of the Africa CDC COVID-19 Vaccine dashboard with partners, regularly give analytical presentations on updated information on the rollout in Africa

Managed partnerships with Member states while providing expertise in planning, execution, monitoring and evaluation of over 15 Africa CDC projects (>$1M) in southern African countries to ensure it is delivered within scope, on time, and within program budgets

Served as an expert consultant regarding policies, procedures, quality improvement strategies and accelerated the development of 13 public health policy documents and protocols in Zambia and Africa CDC while continuously reviewing of global COVID-19 guidelines and resources for publication.

Effectively coordinated the activities and supervising workplans of 42 responders and about 6,000 Community Health Workers deployed to 4 countries in the southern region to support COVID-19 surveillance and case management with over 250,000 contacts traced and monitored.

Coordination of over 20 biweekly virtual best practices and experience sharing sessions amongst 10 Member states in the region on IHR competencies, public health preparedness and response activities that led to significant regional collaboration and communication

Led a mission to Uganda for Ebola response with focus on strengthening capacity in Public Health Emergency Management (PHEM) by technical training of over 200 high level districts officers

Experience leading efforts in the establishment of IHR 2005 Technical Working Group and development of its TORs in collaboration and networking with WHO and the Zambia National Public Health Institute

Contributed to efforts to establish the Public Health Emergency Operation Centre (PHEOC) in Zambia through the development of SOPs, guidelines and capacity building.

Public Health Officer Nov 2017 – Oct 2018

Africa Centres for Disease Prevention and Control (Africa CDC) Lusaka, Zambia- Specialized public health Institution of the African Union

Collaborated on the development of the Zambia Multisectoral National Cholera Elimination Plan (MNCEP) including budgeting for activity plans, monitoring and evaluation, advocacy and resource mobilization strategies which is currently being rolled out and implemented

Conducted two separate outbreak investigation during 2017/2018 and 2019 Cholera outbreak in Zambia with focus on coordination, contact tracing and case mapping, data collection and analyses on 3 KAP surveys and technically supported 2 vaccination campaigns

Technical support to 2018 Cholera response via capacity building in Zimbabwe and Malawi through a deployment by Africa CDC

Networked with Member States and partners in the southern Africa region to develop the Africa CDC Southern Africa Regional Cholera strategy which is currently being validated

Facilitated 10 sessions at the onsite teaching on EVD preparedness and response for 609 Rapid Responders; coordinated scheduling and coaching drills in 5 priority districts for quality control (QC)

Administered a Vulnerability Risk and Mapping assessment (VRAM) in 10 districts in Western province in Zambia and contributed in the development of the document mapping the entire country

Gave technical support in the setting up of a Public Health Emergency Operation Centre (PHEOC) for Zambia through development of SOPs, guidelines and capacity building

Chief Drug Logistician Nov 2016 – Oct 2017

Comprehensive Community Mental Health Programme (CCMHP) Benue, Nigeria - Mental health rehabilitation

Developed a functional framework and safety protocols for supply chain management activities for a Revolving Drug Fund (>$50K) which reduced wastage and shrinkage by 85% through implementation of inventory controls and eliminated expiry in 4 months

Led a multi-functional team through concept, platform development and change management to roll out on-site trainings and mentoring on supply chain management to all service providers in the 65 facilities overall improving the quality of service for over 15,000 end users

Fueled business development by running a closed competitive bidding process with 5 medicine suppliers and finalized contracts and supply license with 2 suppliers to ease the procurement process.

Implemented financial management, grant management and cost control strategies, with finance team to recover 60% of debts incurred by service providers over the years and ensure proper allocation of funds.

Created business plans, budgeting with continually updated project plan, while reporting to senior management and other stakeholders through monthly reports

Intern Pharmacist May 2015 – May 2016

Lagoon Hospitals, Apapa Lagos- A pioneer centre for first class in-and-out-patient healthcare services

Filled prescriptions for the theatre and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) while looking out for prescription errors

Design and coordinated a 3-day stock taking exercise for all medicine and medical products in the hospital to correct the discrepancies in the data base and simplified subsequent spot stock taking exercise and forecasting

Collated data on antibiotics prescription patterns for the hospital for research

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Public Health Officer, Africa CDC Lusaka, Zambia Nov 2017 – Present

Developed and administered survey tools for a cross sectional survey to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding water, sanitation, and cholera, among 267 households in the heavily affected neighborhoods of Lusaka in Dec. 2017.

Collaborated with partners to draft proposal, develop study tools and ran analysis using STATA for a matched case control study of effectiveness of two doses of Euvichol-Plus® oral cholera vaccine in an outbreak setting in Lusaka, Zambia, 2017-2018

Ran quantitative analysis for pre- and post-training evaluation for a country wide Ebola preparedness and response trainings

Conducted a qualitative and quantitative baseline assessment of public health assets in 10 countries in the southern Africa

PUBLICATIONS WITHIN THE LAST 5 YEARS

Eya B, Chukwu O, Danraka A, Onwuekwe E et al. (2020) COVID-19 Outbreak: Awareness and knowledge among Healthcare Professionals in Nigeria. International Journal of Pharma Science and Research (IJPSR). Vol 11 No. 03 Mar 2020

Sopeyin, A., Hornsey, E., Okwor, T., Alimi, Y., Raji, T., Mohammed, A., Moges, H., Onwuekwe, E., et al (2020). Transmission risk of respiratory viruses in natural and mechanical ventilation environments: implications for SARS-CoV-2 transmission in Africa. BMJ global health, 5(8), e003522. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-202*-******

Sinyange N, Brunkard JM, Kapata N, et al. Cholera Epidemic — Lusaka, Zambia, October 2017–May 2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2018;67:556–559. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6719a5

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