Consultancy to support the work on HIV Patient and Toxicity Monitoring

THIS RFP IN EXTENDED UNTIL 27 AUGUST 2017, 17:00 CET

Tender amended on 10.08.2017: New date for any prospective bidder to request any clarification on technical, contractual or commercial matters postponed to 13 August 2017, 17:00 CET.

Request for Proposal (RFP): Consultancy to support the work on HIV Patient and Toxicity Monitoring

1. INTRODUCTION

The 2017 Consolidated Guidelines on Person-Centred HIV Patient Monitoring and Case Surveillance consolidate WHO guidance on patient monitoring systems and reporting of cases of HIV as part of public health surveillance.  The tools and approaches in the guidelines have been updated to reflect WHO consolidated guidelines on strategic information for HIV in the health sector published in 2015, including new indicators organized along the cascade of HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care, and incorporate recently updated WHO guidance on the use of antiretroviral drugs for the treatment and prevention of HIV.  The guidelines promote a people-centred approach to strategic information for HIV, which involves a shift from collecting aggregated service-level data (e.g. the number of HIV tests provided) to a focus on people as they receive a cascade of linked services.  They also recommend the progressive implementation of unique identifiers and electronic patient records to link patients as they move between health services, support improved linkages between health services and improve health outcomes and data quality.

By 2016, global coverage of antiretroviral treatment for people living with HIV had reached approximately 46% or 17 million people, and it is projected that expanding ART to all 35 million people currently living with HIV will avert 28 million new HIV infections and 21 million AIDS-related deaths by 2030.   Implementation of the 2017 WHO Guidelines on Person-Centred HIV Patient Monitoring and Case  Surveillance will support the further scale-up of treatment in the coming years. In so doing, the guidelines will contribute to stronger health systems and increased impact against HIV response by supporting increased and more sustainable use of routine patient data to ensure optimal patient care and to enable programme improvement, including better patient linkage, retention and outcomes, routine monitoring of toxicity and better adherence to treatment, and the delivery of chronic care.

In 2017, a number of countries have started transitioning to introduce newly recommended ARVs into national ARV guidelines and programmes. WHO/HIV is producing a Technical Update on the  Transition to new antiretrovirals in HIV programmes: clinical and programmatic considerations (July 2017)  that  provides an update on clinical data and special considerations on gaps in safety data and long-term or serious toxicities associated with new ARVs. In the Update,  WHO encourages countries to  complement routine toxicity monitoring in implementing active toxicity monitoring and safety surveillance projects.

The SIP team of WHO seeks technical specialist support to work on these varied areas, principally on enhancing patient and toxicity monitoring.

2. DESCRIPTION OF THE ASSIGNMENT

I. Purpose of this assignment

The consultant will assist WHO/HIV-SIP with technical specialist support to WHO’s work on HIV patient and toxicity monitoring and  provide support to country capacity building on enhancing patient and toxicity monitoring using 2017 WHO Guidelines on Person-Centred HIV Patient Monitoring and Case  Surveillance and tools in particular with regard to ensuring data quality and use.

II. Scope of Work

The assignment will start approximatively mid- September 2017. The proposed period of work is for 12 months with an option of a prolongation pending on requirements, performance and funding availability.

III. Outputs and Deliverables

1. Develop annexures to the WHO technical guidance documents on transitioning to new antiretroviral medicines for countries to conduct active targeted toxicity monitoring at ART sites, in particular with regard to ensuring data collection, quality and use into WHO global repository.

Deliverables: Generic protocol, operational tools and training modules for new ARV active toxicity monitoring in progress and produced.

Time line: Month 1, 2

1. Support implementation of active toxicity monitoring projects in 4 countries transitioning to new ARVs, including technical assistance to data quality review, analysis and use into national and WHO/TDR global drug safety repositories

1. Support adoption of protocols by countries and partner engagement,
2. Support training, data quality review, analysis and use into national and global repositories,
3. Identified challenges, progress and lessons learnt into a final technical report.

Deliverables: Country  implementation plans, training session and data assessment reports,   monthly progress documented, final project evaluation reports  submitted with comments integrated from stakeholders.

Time line:  Month 4, 6, 8, 10, 12

1. Support planning and implementation of periodic HIV patient monitoring system reviews in 2 strategic countries, with a focus on data quality and use, using WHO 2017 Person-centred HIV patient monitoring and case surveillance approaches.

1. Support planning and preparation of periodic reviews and use of data from the HIV patient monitoring system in 2 countries
2. Support implementation of reviews and use of data with production of assessment reports integrating recommendations for data quality improvement and use for decision-making

Deliverables: Planning in 2 countries available, assessments conducted and reports submitted with comments integrated from stakeholders.

Time line: Month 3, 7, 9

1. Support update of patient and toxicity monitoring questions into the Global AIDS Monitoring (GAM 2018), preparation of queries to countries and contributions to HIV country and global reports. 

Deliverables: Patient and toxicity monitoring questions updated into GAM, responses from countries on specific queries available, contributions to departmental country and global reports produced.

Time line: Month 7, 8

1. Support the production and update of technical, dissemination and advocacy materials on patient and toxicity monitoring with new data available in preparation for regional and international events. 

Deliverables: mock-up drafted, draft materials submitted, materials produced.

Time line: Month 10,11, 12

V. Performance monitoring

The consultant will be monitored on a weekly basis by the SIP technical officer following the deliverables mentioned under III, and also report to the SIP management weekly meetings.

VI. Location and Travel

The place of performance of the work under the Contract shall be at WHO Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland. The duty travel that are not listed in 3.3.1 will be paid by WHO, following WHO’s Rules and regulations. Travel costs and per diem for duty travels should therefore not be included in the RFP.

3. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ASSIGNMENT

I. EDUCATION

Essential:

Master Degree in Public Health  and/or Infectious Disease Control or equivalent.

Desirable:

Diploma in biology or  pharmacology or related area

II. EXPERIENCE

Essential:

Minimum of 7 years’ experience in Public Health of which at least 3 years in HIV and 3 years with Monitoring and Evaluation

Desirable:

Relevant work experience in patient or toxicity monitoring. Previous experience with WHO would be an asset.

III. SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

• Good communication and presentation skills
• Ability to conduct literature reviews and data analysis
• Demonstrated capacity to write and communicate in English
• Ability to work as part of a team, and high level of interpersonal skills to be able to work with Ministry of Health officials and partners.

4. SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

No later than 20 August 2017, 12:00 CET the bidder shall submit by email a bid:

1. A signed Motivation letter.
2. Proposal (including, but not restricted to, technical and financial documents).
3. “RFP Acknowledgement” form completed/signed.
4. “RFP Confidentiality Undertaking” form completed/signed.
5.  “RFP Acceptance” form completed/signed.

A prospective bidder requiring any clarification on technical, contractual or commercial matters may notify WHO via email at the following address no later than 10 August 2017, 17:00 CET.

• Email for submissions of questions and proposal: pdifin@who.int

(use subject: Bid Ref 2015/HTM/HIV/012)

• Mailing address for submission of proposal:

World Health Organization

Mr. Jerome Peron

HQ/HIV, PDI/FIN, D45034

Bid Ref: 2017/HTM/HIV/012

20, Avenue Appia

CH-1211 Geneva 27

Switzerland

Refer to attached documents for additional information.