RFQ - UNTB - Equipment and Supplies for Ear Mold Lab - Bhutan

GENERAL BACKGROUND 

The Hear, Listen, and Speak Program is a collaboration between the Royal Government of Bhutan, United Nations Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries, Global Foundation For Children With Hearing Loss, and Medtronic Labs.

The goal of this multi-year Program is to help the country of Bhutan establish the continuum of care required to address hearing loss and ear disorders in its children 0-14 years of age.  It meets the government’s mandate to strengthen child health and education services in the country and to reduce the impact of disability on the Bhutanese people’s quality of life. 

The Program will build locally-based professional capacity and services in newborn hearing screening, hearing technology, and rehabilitation that are essential for Bhutanese children 0-6 years of age who are deaf or hard of hearing to have a chance to hear and speak. The Program also implements screening and ear and hearing care services for Bhutanese children 7-14 years of age with typical hearing to ensure they have healthy ears ongoing.

It is a national initiative designed to address the complete continuum of care from identification to treatment to rehabilitation. Through delivery of technology, professional training, family education, implementation of services, and community outreach initiatives, we are helping to establish sustainable ear and hearing care for children 0-14 years of age in Bhutan, both now and into the future.
 
EARMOLD LAB 
 
Earmolds are required for fitting hearing aids. An earmold is an individually fabricated insert that channels the sound capturedby a hearing aid microphone to the eardrum. The provision of earmolds is a service that is yet to be achieved in Bhutan. Since patients have an ongoing need for ear molds, especially in growing children whose ears are rapidly changing, it is of theutmost importance that a sustainable process to produce ear molds is established within the country. 
Hospital administration at the national tertiary care hospital in Bhutan department has identified a space for an earmold lab setup. The hospital has three technicians that have been trained to hand craft ear molds. This procurement request will supply the equipment and supplies required for the Bhutan hospital ear mold lab so the Bhutanese technicians can make ear impressions and manufacture ear molds by hand locally. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: Interested vendors must respond to this tender using the UNOPS eSourcing system, via the UNGM portal. In order to access the full UNOPS tender details, request clarifications on the tender, and submit a vendor response to a tender using the system, vendors need to be registered as a UNOPS vendor at the UNGM portal and be logged into UNGM. For guidance on how to register on UNGM and submit responses to UNOPS tenders in the UNOPS eSourcing system, please refer to the user guide and other resources available at: https://esourcing.unops.org/#/Help/Guides