Request For Quotation (RFQ) for provision of teleradiology services in Africa Region for Stop TB Partnership, UNOPS - new

New clarification added: Question: If a radiologist has a qualification from Pakistan and has certificate of registration in Nepal, will they qualify for Eastern Mediterrean or South East Asia or Both?Answer:  Based on the qualification and licensing framework, a radiologist in this situation would be eligible for both regions:• Eastern Mediterranean: A qualification from Pakistan is considered an equivalent national board certification for the Eastern Mediterranean region, as Pakistan falls within the WHO Eastern Mediterranean region.• South East Asia: A certificate of registration to practise in Nepal would satisfy the licence to practise requirement for the South East Asia region, as Nepal falls within the WHO South East Asia region.Please ensure the qualifications and registration details for each radiologist are clearly documented in your submission, indicating which region(s) they are being proposed for. Best,UNOPS Procurement

New clarification added: Question: 1. Do we have to submit the certificate of registration for all the radiologist on panel for a specific region or only CV will be sufficient for now?Answer: For the purposes of this tender submission, a detailed CV for each proposed radiologist is sufficient. The CV should clearly indicate the radiologist's qualifications, registration details, and relevant experience.2. What documents can be submitted for registration as a medical / healthcare provider by the company? Will Certificate of Incorporation and MoA be sufficient?Answer: A Certificate of Incorporation and Memorandum of Association (MoA) are acceptable as evidence of company registration. Vendors should also provide any relevant professional or healthcare provider accreditation held by the organisation, where applicable. If your company holds specific teleradiology or healthcare service licences, please include these in your submission.Best,UNOPS Procurement

New clarification added: Question: A vendor applying for all the regions will have to fill in separate apllication for each tender? Few organisation level documents will be common across all the applications and few region specific.Answer: Yes, a seperate application is required for each region and submitted under the correcponding region tender in eSourcing.The vendor will have the same documentation for some parts (like sustainability, for example) but different for others (like a region specific radiologist registration). Best,UNOPS Procurement

New clarification added: Question: Does the vendor need local presence/company registrations in each of the regions they are applying to? Can a vendor having telelradiology operations in 1 region apply to other regions if they have a team of expert radiologists in that region (qualifications based on tender)?Answer: No, vendors are not required to have a local presence or company registration in the regions they are applying to, as long as the radiologists proposed for each region hold the accepted qualifications or licence to practise for that region.A vendor operating from a single location may therefore apply for multiple regions, provided they can demonstrate that their proposed radiologists meet the qualification requirements for each region applied for. Please ensure the qualifications, registration details, and relevant experience of all proposed radiologists are clearly specified in your submission, clearly indicating which region each radiologist is being proposed for.

New clarification added: Question: if our radiologist have certificate of vocational license in Egypt, can we participate in this tender and other tenders in region (America, Europe,..)?if no, please clarify the reasons as tele-radiology services will be provided remotelyAnswer:Thank you for your question. Radiologists holding an Egyptian License are eligible to participate in the Eastern Mediterranean region tender, as this is considered an accepted national board qualification for that region.For other regions (Europe, Americas, South East Asia, Western Pacific, and Africa), the Egyptian vocational license alone would not meet the qualification requirements. This is because the reads will be used for research purposes, including comparison of inter-reader variability and how it may vary across regions. Therefore, we have asked for radiologists licensed in each of the different World Health Organization regions.A single vendor may apply for and be awarded multiple regions. If your radiologists hold additional internationally recognised qualifications — for example, the EDiR (European Diploma in Radiology) or equivalent — they would also be eligible to apply for the corresponding region(s). Please ensure the qualifications, registration details, and relevant experience of all proposed radiologists are clearly specified in your submission.Best,UNOPS Procurement

New amendment added #2: The bidding and clarifications deadline is extended with 10 days. International certifications relevant to the region are allowed, as per the additional listed details in the General conditions of the tender 

New clarification added: 3. Question: Dear UNOPS Procurement Team,We would like to seek further clarification regarding the requirement for radiologists to be registered within specific geographic regions.Given that the scope of work involves fully remote teleradiology services, with:De-identified imaging data,No patient interaction,No country-specific data residency requirements, andCentralized batch-based reporting workflows,We would like to kindly inquire whether UNOPS would consider allowing radiologists who are appropriately qualified, experienced, and internationally licensed (e.g., MD Radiodiagnosis, FRCR, or equivalent), but not necessarily registered within the specific geographic region, to participate in the delivery of services.This approach could:Enhance competition and broaden the pool of qualified experts,Improve scalability for high-volume reporting (up to 15,000 CXRs annually),Maintain quality and compliance through standardized WHO-aligned reporting protocols.We fully understand and respect the importance of regulatory compliance and are happy to ensure that all proposed personnel meet high professional and ethical standards.We would appreciate your guidance on whether this requirement could be considered flexible, or if alternative compliance approaches (e.g., supervision by regionally registered radiologists) would be acceptable.Answer: Thank you for your question. Following consideration, we are willing to accept radiologists who hold recognised international qualifications in place of regional registration, provided the qualification is relevant to the region in which they are applying. Vendors are encouraged to apply for all regions in which their radiologists hold applicable licences, and vendors may be awarded contracts for multiple regions.The following qualifications are considered acceptable per region:Europe: EDiR (European Diploma in Radiology), FRCR (Royal College of Radiologists, UK), or equivalent national board certification in the regionAmericas: ABR (American Board of Radiology) or FRCPC (Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada), or equivalent national board certification in the regionSouth East Asia: MD Radiodiagnosis or DNB Radiodiagnosis (India), or equivalent national board certification in the regionAfrica: Fellowship of the West African College of Surgeons – Radiology (FWACS) or Fellowship of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa – Radiology (FC Rad), or equivalent national board certification in the regionEastern Mediterranean: Arab Board of Radiology or Egyptian Fellowship in Radiology, or equivalent national board certification in the regionWestern Pacific: FRANZCR (Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists), or equivalent national board certification in the regionPlease ensure the qualifications, registration details, and relevant experience of all proposed radiologists are clearly specified in your submission.This will be reflected in an amendment to the RFQ conditions. Best,UNOPS Procurement4. Question: Dear UNOPS Procurement Team,Given that the services are fully remote, involve de-identified data, and do not require patient interaction, we would like to kindly seek clarification on the following:Whether radiologists with recognized international qualifications (e.g., MD Radiodiagnosis, FRCR or equivalent), but not necessarily registered within the specific geographic region, could be considered.Whether it is mandatory to maintain or store teleradiology data within the respective geographic region, or if secure processing and temporary storage outside the region would be acceptable.Whether any region-specific software certifications or compliance requirements (if applicable) need to be considered for the teleradiology platform used.Allowing flexibility on the above may help broaden the pool of qualified experts, enhance competition, and support efficient delivery of high-volume reporting while maintaining quality standards.Answer: Thank you for your question. Following consideration, we are willing to accept radiologists who hold recognised international qualifications in place of regional registration, provided the qualification is relevant to the region in which they are applying. Vendors are encouraged to apply for all regions in which their radiologists hold applicable licences, and vendors may be awarded contracts for multiple regions.The following qualifications are considered acceptable per region:Europe: EDiR (European Diploma in Radiology), FRCR (Royal College of Radiologists, UK), or equivalent national board certification in the regionAmericas: ABR (American Board of Radiology) or FRCPC (Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada), or equivalent national board certification in the regionSouth East Asia: MD Radiodiagnosis or DNB Radiodiagnosis (India), or equivalent national board certification in the regionAfrica: Fellowship of the West African College of Surgeons – Radiology (FWACS) or Fellowship of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa – Radiology (FC Rad), or equivalent national board certification in the regionEastern Mediterranean: Arab Board of Radiology or Egyptian Fellowship in Radiology, or equivalent national board certification in the regionWestern Pacific: FRANZCR (Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists), or equivalent national board certification in the regionPlease ensure the qualifications, registration details, and relevant experience of all proposed radiologists are clearly specified in your submission.This will be reflected in an amendment to the RFQ conditions. Best,UNOPS Procurement

New clarification added: Question: Could you also confirm whether this is planned as a one-time initiative or as a recurring (e.g., annual) activity?Answer:The services will be project based. It will not be a one-time initiative or recurring at specific time points (i..e. Every year), but rather ad-hoc orders based on current research projects. Best,UNOPS Procurement

New clarification added: 1.Question: Could you please clarify the primary objective of the research? Is it intended to assess inter-radiologist variability in TB identification across different countries? Additionally, should this be conducted as a blinded study without the use of any assistive tools?Answer: Specific research objectives will vary depending on the project. However, primarily we will be interested in comparing inter-radiologist variability within and between regions. We will also investigate how the performance of radiologists compare to AI tools for TB and other lung abnormality detection. The studies will be blinded and we request that no assistive tools (such as AI) are used for the reporting form. Best,UNOPS Procurement

New clarification added: Question: Can radiologists registered in Egypt provide reports for this project?Answer: Radiologists proposed for the Africa region need to be registered to practice in Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe.Radiologists registered in Egypt can be proposed for Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR).UNOPS Procurement

New amendment added #1: Extension of the clarifications deadline from 21st to 28th of April. 

New clarification added: Clarification request from 21st of April:Q1. Are vendors permitted to apply for multiple regions? Additionally, is it possible for a single vendor to be awarded contracts for multiple or all regions?Answer: Yes, it is possible for a single vendor to apply/be awarded for multiple/all regions, as long as they meet the requirements for each region. Q2. Is it mandatory for radiologists to be physically stationed within the respective country, or can reporting be performed remotely from another country, provided the radiologists meet the eligibility criteria for that region?Answer: It is acceptable for radiologists to be stationed outside of the respective country, as long as they are registered to practice in a country in the tender’s specific region e.g. a radiologists registered to practise in Nigeria but living in Europe may still provide reports for the Africa region. Q3. Are there any specific requirements regarding the format of submitted reports (e.g., PDF, Word, or other formats)?Answer: The submitted reports will be MS Excel sheets. We will provide a template of the report for each project as outlined in Section II: Schedule of requirements (3.2 Outputs).Q4. Where will the data related to all teleradiology cases be stored? Are there any data residency requirements?Answer: There are no data residency requirements as data will be deidentified. We will provide secure access to DICOMs for each project. These DICOMs can be downloaded and used on the company’s existing platform. Q5. Which platform will be used for reporting? Can vendors utilize their own platform, or will access be provided to a platform maintained by the customer or the respective country?Answer:  We will only require a MS Excel form completed for the reporting. In terms of the data (chest X-ray DICOMs), Stop TB will provide secure access to these for the project which can then be transferred to the supplier’s own platform. Q6. If vendors opt to use their own platform, will there be a requirement to integrate with any existing systems or platforms?Answer: No integration with any platforms needs to be carried out. DICOMS will be shared through a folder on a shared drive with selected access. These can then be transferred to your own reporting system or platform for radiologists to view.  We will just require a MS Excel report of different abnormalities present or absent on a scan. The fields are outlined in Section II: Schedule of requirements (3.2 Outputs).Q7. Is the vendor expected to provide servers for data storage? If so, can separate servers be deployed for each region?Answer: Stop TB will maintain a copy of the DICOMs on our own secure server. The vendor will need to be able to store or process the DICOMs while they are being reported on and can remove them from their server or platform once the project has been completed (i.e. approved by Stop TB). DICOMS will be shared through a folder on a shared drive with selected access. These can then be transferred to your own reporting system or server for radiologists to view.  Separate servers can be deployed for each region if needed. Q8. What types of reports and data outputs are expected by StopTB Partnership?Answer: A data reporting form as outlined in Section II: Schedule of requirements (3.2 Outputs) is the expected output from the vendors. This includes a radiologists judgement on different abnormalities present or absent on a scan.Q9. What is the estimated turnaround time for reporting a single medical scan (e.g., X-ray)?Answer: It is rare we will ask for one single medical scan at a time. The main purpose of reads is for research where a batch of X-rays will be read and measures such as sensitivity and specificity will be calculated. The turnaround time for a batch will be one month from order placement, unless otherwise agreed. Batch sizes will vary from around 500 to 4,000–5,000 images. In the case of very large batch sizes, the turnaround time can be adjusted by agreement. These figures are indicative and may not reflect the true volume or frequency of reads.Q10. The statement “Delivery of the final report within one (1) month of the order, unless otherwise agreed” — does this refer to individual radiology reports or to periodic consolidated reports submitted to StopTB?Answer: This refers to a batch of X-rays read as one consolidated report. The format of the reports will be MS Excel and the reporting fields are outlined in Section II: Schedule of requirements (3.2 Outputs).Q11. Can a radiologist certified in one country within a region provide reports for another country in the same region if they do not hold certification specific to that second country?Answer: The important factor is that the radiologists are registered in any country of the respective region. For example, if we want radiologists from Africa to provide readings, they can be registered in any country in that region.UNOPS Procurement