Hospital/clinical Waste Management Project, Nauru

BACKGROUND

Although Nauru has, so far, no cases of COVID-19, the country has declared COVID-19 as a public health emergency. The zero-case of COVID19 in the country is attributed to observing quarantine and travel entry and exit restrictions, thereby poses minimal risk of importation.

However, there are important economic reasons to reopen its borders and hence the needs for the country to be well-prepared to manage possible COVID-19 incident in the country and the paramount importance of the infection prevention and control (IPC) programme in place.

The IPC management in the country requires basic resources and infrastructure including personal protection equipment (PPE), environmental cleaning, provision of basic water, sanitation and hygiene facilities (WASH) and safe disposal of medical waste or health care waste.

Medical waste constitutes, but not limited to sharps, blood, body fluids, contaminated PPE, chemicals and expired drugs and all other waste which could present risk to hospital patients, health care personnel and general public.

Health care waste in a facility should be managed from point of its generation to final disposal and removal.

This document is posted in the UNGM, calling for interested parties to submit a proposal for the installation, commissioning and start-operation of a non-burning medical waste systems or technology for Nauru.

PURPOSE/SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THE WORK

The specific objective of this advertisement is to seek for interested parties to submit a proposal to install, commission and start-operate for a specific period of time of a final medical waste treatment and disposal unit in Nauru. 

The proposed final medical waste treatment and disposal system or technology should meet the following criteria:

1. alternative technologies to incineration or any other non-burning systems;
2. a technology with previous proven evidence in terms of its reliability and efficiency and verified by at least one independent evaluator or laboratory that the system or technology proposed can effectively decontaminate or make the waste inert, free from any contamination or pathogen and safe for final disposal of the residues to the ground; 
3. a proven technology in terms of its operation as safe, sustainable, long lasting and verified independently by at least three (3) past users of the technology or systems as safe and easy to operate and maintain;
4. to provide proper training, installation, commissioning and running the systems or technology together with the local staff of the Ministry of Health Nauru for a minimal period of one year, to which any operational failure and broken parts of the technology to be replaced by the providers with no additional costs;
5. to assist the Ministry of Health Nauru to submit quarterly reports to higher management of the healthcare facility of the technology performance and environmental reports.

DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK TO BE CARRIED OUT

This advertisement is to seek technical and financial submission for the following work:

1. Title of work: Installation, Commissioning and Start-Operate for a specific period of time of a medical waste treatment and disposal systems or technology in Nauru
2. Technical Specifications:
   1. a treatment and disposal technology for health care waste produced in Nauru with the capacity of around 50 kilograms per day.
   2. the technology shall treat the following, but not limited to, the following waste which is generated from the healthcare establishments in Nauru:
      1. Chemical waste – waste containing chemical substances from laboratories
      2. Pharmaceutical waste – pharmaceuticals that are expired or no longer needed; items contaminated by or containing pharmaceuticals;
      3. Pathological waste – human tissues; organs or body fluids; unused blood products
      4. Infectious waste – waste contaminated with blood and other body fluids; laboratory cultures and microbiological stocks; and waste which has human excreta and other materials that have been in contact with patients with highly infectious diseases in isolation wards;
      5. Sharp waste – hypodermic, intravenous or other needles; syringes; infusion sets; scalpels; pipettes; knives; blades; and broken glass;
   3. the technology proposed shall not be a burning technology such as an incineration process or any technology which uses water in its treatment process and does not produce waste water;
   4. a technology with previous proven evidence and verified by at least one independent evaluator or laboratory that the system proposed can effectively decontaminate or make the waste inert, free from any contamination or pathogen and safe for final disposal of the waste residues to the ground;
   5. The submission must include the following:
      1. All the essential equipment of the systems including, bur not limited to the following items:
         • Major parts or components such as feeding systems; shredding (if used); main treatment systems; and final output systems;
         • Cooling systems
         • UPS systems
      2. All auxiliary or secondary components needed for safe and efficient operation of the proposed systems/technology
3. Successful supplier shall be responsible for the following, but not limited, to the following items:
   1. installation of the proposed systems or technology at a designated site to be determined by the Ministry of Health Nauru;
   2. to provide the specifications for construction of the housing unit and related electricity requirements for the installation of this waste management equipment in coordination with the Nauru Government.
   3. commissioning of the proposed systems or technology to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the systems or technology for a period of 40 days;
   4.  to propose a minimal quantity of essential parts or components to be purchased as a back-up systems of the systems or technology for the period of at least 2 years of its operation.
   5. to undertake proper training, commissioning and to run the systems together with local staff of the Ministry of Health Nauru for a minimal period of one year, to which any operational failure and broken parts of the technology to be replaced by the providers with no additional costs within 2 years from the period of its operation.
4.  Warranty
   1. 3 years for main equipment or machines – such as shredder, main waste treatment chambers, electrical panels (meaning that if these main systems are malfunctioned in less than 3 years, the supplier should replace them at no cost – the supplier must tell us what are their main machines)
   2. 2 years for parts (these are nuts and bolts and parts which are subjected to wear and tear)
5. Handover
   1. Physical verification by the Ministry of Health Nauru or any other agency authorized by the Ministry of Nauru that the systems operates according to the specifications provided
   2. Laboratory tested of the final residues of the treated waste that it is free from pathogens and hazardous chemicals, in which the number of samples, period of testing and the parameters tested, shall be provided by the Ministry of Nauru or any other agency authorized by the Ministry of Health Nauru (the cost of testing shall be covered by the supplier but to be done independently by an authorized laboratory – past records are not enough and cant be accepted as the performance can change according to local factors);
   3. Fire-hazard verification by the Ministry of Health Nauru or any other agency authorized by the Ministry of Nauru

METHODS TO CARRY OUT THE ACTIVITY

Interested bidders are requested to submit a detailed proposal which constitute the above technical specification as well as detailed financial proposal with breakdown of costs for the following items:

1. Supply of appropriate equipment for installation of a medical waste management unit/plant
2. Installation and commissioning of the plant or unit
3. Training on running, maintenances and repair of the unit/plant
4. Supply of spare parts

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

Essential:  Interested bidders must have a license from the national authority to install and operate a waste management plants

Desirable:  a license from the national authority to install and operate a medical waste management plant.

EXPERIENCE

Essential: had experience in the installation of the proposed systems or technology in at least 3 units in the past five years with at least in two developing countries

Desirable: a certificate of appreciation from an accredited agency

TECHNICAL SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE

Had at least 5 years of experience in the supply, installation and operation of a medical waste management systems or technologies with at least in two developing countries

LANGUAGES

English is essential

APPLICATIONS

Qualified and interested specialists should submit their CV {for individual contractors} or Company Profile {for institutional applications} and Expression of Interest {cover letter} to the Supply Officer through WP RO UNGM at < wproungm@who.int > by 17 August 2020.

The cover letter should outline how their experience and qualifications make them a suitable candidate for this position and should include their proposed daily consultancy fee and availability.

Please use Tender Notice No. 111956 as subject to all submission. Only successful candidates will be contacted.