Nutrition Officer MOPH

Responsibilities and Essential Functions

• Protect, promote, and support responsive care and feeding with focus on integrated ECD and optimal practices for infant and young children 0 to 23 months old by supporting inclusion of integrated nutrition and ECD counselling as part of LPSP package for promotion of IYCF, development outcomes and to minimize the risks associated with the use of commercial milk formula for non-breastfed infants
• Integration and coordinate implementation of maternal nutrition counselling into PHCC’s wellness package
• Coordinate revision process of the national guidelines for prevention and management of wasting including the growth monitoring and promotion and ensure national wide roll out of the national guidelines in all PHCCs.
• Make sure PHCCS are providing basic screening, prevention, and management of wasting services and facilitate connections and referrals to needed services in the area when necessary.
• Provide technical guidance and on-the-job capacity building for existing PHCC staff related to jointly developed SOPs on nutrition including prevention, screening and treatment of acute malnutrition, growth monitoring and prevention, provision of universal micronutrient supplementations for children and PLW, provision of nutrition and ECD counselling, child development monitoring, and assist in reporting on all related nutrition indicators, when needed.
• Support integration of child development monitoring into the digital platforms, and information management system of PHCCs.
• Support the PHC department of MOPH on integration and monitoring of other nutrition activities as per the priorities, Humanitarian response plans, and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) jointly set by PHC Department of MOPH and the Lebanon Nutrition Sector.
• Coordinate with the PHCCs and MoPH-IT department to update data system to reflect all relevant nutrition and child development indicators including malnutrition and ECD milestone indicators and receive data on defaulters, caseload on the management of MAM and SAM and on screening and management of acute malnutrition cases, as well as on nutritional and child development status of children attending the PHCCs on monthly basis.
• Support accurate use of nutrition supplies including RUTF, RUSF, F75, F100, MNPs, micronutrient supplements, anthropometric equipment and etc, by close monitoring of the nutrition supplies at the MOPH warehouses, forecast the needs as per consumption trends and the balance and to submit requests to UNICEF at least 4 months ahead of stockouts.
• Set yearly Capacity building plan and follow up on PHCCs by offering refresher trainings on nutrition and ECD in all governorates.
• Coordinate the undertaking of training on inpatient and outpatient prevention and management of acute malnutrition program.
• Follow up on accurate and timely /monthly reporting of nutrition indicators approved by MoPH, to be shared with UNICEF and Nutrition sector by the PHC Department.
• Provide quarterly analysis on the trends of all nutrition indicators including malnutrition cases attending management services at PHCCs, to be shared with MoPH, Nutrition sector and UNICEF.
• Coordinate with Local and International NGOs on the implementation of the malnutrition treatment program at the PHCs to ensure compliance of the malnutrition cases to the treatment as per the Nutrition sector SOPs and identify any possible barriers for accessing and sustaining access to care.
• Coordinate with local and international NGOs who are implementing Mother Baby corner initiative at the PHCs to ensure compliance with the developed Nutrition sector SOPs and identify any possible challenges.
• Provide the needed support and guidance to PHCCs and implementing partners to ensure proper follow-up on children admitted for management of acute malnutrition and prevent a high incidence of defaulters.
• Identify gaps and challenges in implementing the management of acute malnutrition program at the PHCCs’ level and report them to MoPH.
• Regularly update the referral pathway of the acute malnutrition program and update an online matrix to ensure, correct referral information is availed at any time, and link and coordinate between the PHCCs offering screening and treatment and the trained governmental and private hospitals to ensure an efficient and comprehensive spectrum on acute malnutrition services.
• Perform other tasks as required by the head of the PHC department.