Senior National Consultant – CMA at Malaria Consortium

ByMuhuddin Samaila

Malaria Consortium is one of the world’s leading non-profit organizations dedicated to the comprehensive control/elimination of malaria and other communicable diseases in Africa and Southeast Asia. Malaria Consortium works with communities, government and non-government agencies, academic institutions, local and international organizations, to ensure good evidence supports large scale delivery of effective services, providing technical support for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of programmes and activities for evidence-based decision-making and strategic planning. The organization works to improve not only the health of the individual, but also the capacity of national health systems, which helps to relieve poverty and support improved economic prosperity. Malaria is a major cause of morbidity and mortality known to directly contribute to poverty, low productivity, and reduced school attendance. Malaria in Nigeria is responsible for an annual death of 300,000 children under five years (U5) and 11% of maternal mortality. In children, malaria is responsible for 25% of all infant-related mortality and 30% of child-related mortality.1 At a current national prevalence of 22%, Nigeria like many other countries recorded a reduction in malaria prevalence, following massive scale up of effective malaria control interventions around prevention, diagnosis and treatment.2 . In 2023 however, there were about 263 million malaria cases and 597,000 deaths globally indicating that the declining situation of global malaria disease burden has been stalled.3 The Report (WMR) also noted Nigeria as one of the major countries contributing to the high morbidity (25.9%) and mortality (30.9%) rate globally. The WHO African Region continues to carry the heaviest burden of the disease, accounting for an almost 95% of malaria cases and 96% of death worldwide. The WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region has experienced a 57% increase in incidence since 2021, rising to 17.9 cases per 1,000 population at risk in 2023. According to the report, the top five countries carrying the heaviest estimated burden of malaria cases were Nigeria (25.9%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (12.6%), Uganda (4.8%), Ethiopia (3.6%) and Mozambique (3.5%).

In response to the re-emerging high malaria burden, the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) with support from bilateral organizations, donors and implementing partners is leading and coordinating malaria control efforts (including commodity donations and accountability) to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with the disease. Malaria Consortium, based on GiveWell Foundation’s recommendation as a top charity organization, receives funds from several sources which are classified as philanthropic funding (PF); and with PF support is implementing the seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) campaign in Bauchi, Borno, the FCT, Kebbi, Kogi, Nasarawa, Oyo, Plateau and Sokoto states. The SMC campaign utilizes door-to-door channels with the health facilities serving as a hub unit of operation and quality assurance points for health product management, training, supervision and M&E. The recommended drug for SMC in Nigeria is a combination of sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine and amodiaquine (SPAQ). The distribution strategy for these commodities was designed to fit into the National Malaria Commodity Logistics Management System (MCLMS). In addition, State Governments have the responsibility of ‘last mile’ distribution (LMD) and reverse logistics during the intervention. The LMD of the commodities flows from the state straight to the health facilities and the community drug distributors (CDDs) for use in the communities. However, the LGAs interface to document the quantities reaching the respective health facilities and communities.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Senior National Consultant – CMA

Location: Abuja (FCT)
Employment Type: Contract

Objective of the Assignment
Specific Objectives:

  • Review and finalize the Malaria Health Product Management Audit protocol and Tools.
  • To determine the availability and use of relevant tools for proper tracking and control of the distribution at every point in the supply chain.
  • Determine accuracy of record keeping for key activities such as receiving, warehousing and distribution at each point in the supply chain.
  • Determine the concurrence or otherwise, between paper-based inventory and the digital application (Digit-HCM) inventory
  • Ascertain the quantities of individual malaria health products and other commodities that passed through every holding and transit point in the supply chain/pipeline, including quantities ordered from manufacturer, received at Nigeria port, delivered to state CMS and distributed to health facilities for the 2025 SMC implementation.
  • Determine from the service database, quantities of SPAQ used for treatments, including main dosing, re-dosing, after-referral-dosing, wasted and damaged.
  • Do physical count and document of the quantities, conditions and expiry dates of commodity at each state CMS and LGA stores currently holding SPAQ.
  • From 3 – 5 above and annex 1 (SDP Categorization and Applicable Audit Activities), determine loss and wastage rate for the product of interest.
  • Assess the capacity (Knowledge, Training, and Commodity Management practices) of the health workers at the facility levels to manage malaria commodities generally and on digital applications.
  • Assess the knowledge of health workers involved in the SMC campaign on pharmacovigilance.
  • Do an assessment of the availability and compliance (Screening and reporting of all suspected cases of ADR) with pharmacovigilance process for drug safety during SMC implementation?
  • Assess the distribution strategy for the commodities to determine compliance with state malaria supply chain management strategy, national policies and procedures as well as best practices for management of malaria commodities.
  • Do a rapid assessment of the stock (bad, good or expired).
  • Do assessment of the storage conditions for SMC commodities at the state CMS and selected health facilities (capacity, environmental conditions, safety and security) and at holding or transient points.
  • Carry out a survey of private outlets across the states to identify the type and cost of antimalarials sold in the outlets (This will allow for the identification of diverted SPAQ).
  • Submit report with appropriate recommendations on key finding

Methodology
Data Collection Method:

  • Document (Commodity delivery and transaction documents) review at the state office of Malaria Consortium.
  • Record (Commodity delivery and transaction documents) review at state CMS, LGA and zonal stores where applicable.
  • Record (Commodity delivery and transaction documents) review at health facility level.
  • Back-end DIGIT-HCM commodity data review
  • Assessment of storage facilities at the different holding/transit stores and health facilities.
  • Collection of SMC related pharmacovigilance forms at the health facilities where available.
  • Key Informant interviews with relevant staff of Malaria Consortium and government (state, LGAs, and health facility workers) in the nine states that have roles and participated in 2025 commodity management and service delivery. The lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS) methodology would be adapted for this commodity audit.

The following activities will be undertaken by the Senior National Consultant:

  • Briefing of the state-level consultant on the end-of-round (EoR) commodity management audit.
  • Review, revise and finalize draft protocol and templates for data/information capturing at all holding and transient points.
  • Work with the MC technical team to develop a data analysis and presentation plan
  • Coordinate the activities of the state-level consultants.
  • Supervise the state-level consultants in completing the assigned tasks.
  • Debrief with the MC team at the national on findings at the conclusion of the assignment.
  • Write a comprehensive report on the assignment, making recommendations where necessary and using an appropriate template.

Profile Requirements of Senior National Consultant

  • S/he should have a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy or a health-related discipline, with a postgraduate degree in Pharmacy. S/he will provide oversight and coordinate the activities of the nine (9) auditors participating in this assignment. Other requirements include:
  • Minimum of 10 years of experience in drug supplies and management systems in Nigeria, especially in the Public Health sector.
  • The lead consultant will be a Health supply chain and health system expert with experience in commodity and project auditing.
  • Have experience in developing protocols for health commodity audit or assessment of supply chain systems in Nigeria.
  • Demonstrable experience in systems assessment/evaluation.
  • Experience in report writing and communicating with stakeholders.
  • Good understanding of what is feasible in highly resource-constrained environments.

Application Closing Date
30th October, 2025.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:

Go to Senior National Consultant – CMA at Malaria Consortium to apply

Note

  • Applicants who do not follow this specification will be disqualified.
  • Only Shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
  • Kindly note that applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and as a result, the process may conclude before the advertised deadline. Therefore, early applications are highly encouraged.
  • Malaria Consortium does not accept or ask for payment during recruitment. We also would not accept hardcopy CVs; all applications should be sent through the above link.

Sama’ila Muhuddin is a dedicated Registered Nurse and humanitarian professional with over seven years of frontline experience. Since May 2018, he has served with prominent international non-governmental organizations, including Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Holland, Spain, France projects and ALIMA, responding to emergencies and providing critical care in some of the most challenging humanitarian settings.

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