AIDS Support and Technical Assistance Resources Contract (AIDSTAR)

The US Agency for International Development Bureau for Management Office of the Assistant Administrator established AIDSTAR (AIDS Support and Technical Assistance Resources Contract), a Master IDIQ providing technical assistance and implementation support for HIV/AIDS prevention, care, treatment, and institutional capacity building across PEPFAR-funded countries, with the last date to order being August 14, 2013. Ordering under this vehicle closed over twelve years ago and no new task orders may be placed.

AIDSTAR awarded 29 task orders totaling $906.3 million in combined potential value, of which $663.9 million (73 percent) has been obligated. The vehicle generated five orders in 2008, twelve in 2009, eight in 2010, one in 2011, and three in 2013, with the most recent task order awarded June 14, 2013. All task orders are unrestricted (no set-aside designations).

The scope spans HIV/AIDS service delivery, prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), orphan and vulnerable children support, social marketing for health behavior change, community-based response strengthening, knowledge management, and institutional capacity building. Representative orders include a $124.1 million Zambia partnership order addressing prevention, care, and treatment; a $73.2 million partnership social marketing order in the Democratic Republic of Congo; a $55.3 million knowledge management order; and a $54.5 million DRC institutional support order.

Competition concentrates among five major primes: Family Health International leads with seven orders and $233.7 million combined potential value, Population Services International holds five orders worth $210.2 million, John Snow Incorporated has three orders totaling $138.3 million, Path holds four orders worth $119.6 million, and Management Sciences For Health holds three orders totaling $82.1 million. These five firms account for 76 percent of task orders and 87 percent of combined potential value. Task order pricing uses cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-plus-award-fee structures. Customer concentration is moderate: USAID/Zambia, USAID/Bureau for Global Health, and USAID/Nigeria together represent 41 percent of task orders, with the remainder distributed across 16 other USAID regional and functional entities.

The AIDS Support and Technical Assistance Resources Contract (AIDSTAR) establishes a mechanism to make technical assistance and implementation support available to USAID's Office of HIV/AIDS (OHA) in all countries where the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is providing HIV/AIDS assistance, including both focus and non-focus countries. On request, AIDSTAR supports USG operating units, including USG country teams, USAID/Washington (USAID/W) Bureaus and other USG agencies, in implementing the President's Emergency Plan and contributing to achievement of Emergency Plan goals in two different sectors: 1. HIV/AIDS Prevention, Care and Treatment; and 2. HIV/AIDS Institutional Capacity Building. AIDSTAR provides the Government with cost-effective access to technical expertise and implementation support to meet evolving HIV/AIDS needs.