Zara Mkrtchyan (AUA MPH 1999) Competitively Selected for the Position of WHO International Expert in Kenya – 03-03-2014

In January 2014, Zara Mkrtchyan got involved in a global initiative between the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) targeting worldwide polio eradication. Through a highly competitive selection process conducted by the US CDC and WHO, Zara Mkrtchyan has been selected as an international expert to support the Ministry of Health in Kenya and WHO Country Office to respond to this public health emergency. Many countries have successfully eliminated the disease; however, some counties are still endemic and in number of countries the outbreaks are ongoing. Kenya is one of the counties with ongoing regional polio outbreak, which initiated in Somalia and spread to Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Uganda. In response to this outbreak the US CDC, WHO and UNICEF send public health professionals who support the countries in providing appropriate response to the outbreak: supporting the countries in routine and supplementary immunization, helping to design advocacy, communication and community/social mobilization campaigns for immunization, as well as providing guidance on immunization and disease-related data management. In this position Zara Mkrtchyan will share her technical expertise in data management with staff of the national disease surveillance and response services in Kenya to strengthen their capacities in providing more effective response to public health emergencies through collection and management of high-quality data. With a team of public health professionals she will conduct a polio outbreak risk assessment in selected counties of Kenya so that the Ministry of Health of Kenya with support from international partners can effectively allocate resource to the high-risk regions.

Prior to this Zara Mkrtchyan worked as Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist in several USAID-funded health programs in Armenia, including Health System Strengthening in Armenia (HS-STAR) project and maternal and health related projects NOVA and NOVA 2. She was also employed by the Center of Health Services Research and Development at AUA.  Zara has also been involved in providing short-term technical consultancy for several UN agencies in Armenia and Central Asia in the areas of family planning, maternal and child health, TB control, and other important public health issues.  Zara Mkrtchyan’s public health education (AUA MPH 1999) coupled with extensive experience in Armenia and the region prepared her for this competitive international assignment with WHO.