RFI___72011519R00006_HIV.pdf

Subject: Maintaining Progress Against HIV in Central Asia Reference: Request For Information (RFI) No.: 72011519R00006 Issuance Date: March 01, 2019 Closing Date: March 29, 2019, 09:00 am Almaty Time

The United States Government, represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Central Asia, is seeking input from interested organizations and individuals who may provide comments, opinions and recommendations in response to the proposed project approach and questions outlined in this Request for Information (RFI) announcement.

This RFI is issued in accordance with FAR 15.201(e) solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue a RFP in the future. Responses to this RFI are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract; only the information requested in this RFI will be reviewed. Further, the Government is not seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Respondents are advised the Government will not be responsible for any costs incurred in response to this RFI.

Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized at www.fbo.gov. It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this requirement.

The full RFI can be viewed and downloaded at www.fbo.gov. Please note that Section II of the RFI is also provided in Russian.

Submission is strictly voluntary. USAID will not provide feedback or responses to questions submitted in response to this RFI and no proposals or resumes will be accepted or considered.

Thank you for your interest.

Sincerely, /s/

Maychin Ho Contracting Officer

RFI # 72011519R00006

Maintaining Progress Against HIV in Central Asia

SECTION I – FAR CLAUSE

52.215-3 REQUEST FOR INFORMATION OR SOLICITATION FOR PLANNING

PURPOSES (OCT 1997)

(a) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

(b) Although “proposal” and “offeror” are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal.

(c) This solicitation is issued for the purpose of requesting comments for a proposed program.

(End of provision)

[End of Section I]

SECTION II - REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

I. Background

Under PEPFAR/Central Asia, USAID works closely with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to address the HIV epidemic in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan. The countries have all committed to the UNAIDS 90-90-90 goals1. Through joint planning, implementation and reporting, the two agencies currently support the governments and partners in the three countries to strengthen the HIV response, with USAID largely supporting the community side of the HIV continuum of services and CDC supporting health facilities.

Through service delivery (“site level”) and policy (“above-site level”) work, PEPFAR addresses existing gaps in service delivery for key populations, particularly people who inject drugs (PWID), prisoners, men who have sex with men (MSM) and their sexual partners.

Current USAID activities seek to improve HIV case finding among key populations and their sexual partners, linkage of people living with HIV (PLHIV) to treatment, and ART adherence to achieve sustained viral suppression.

In FY20, USAID will move out of community HIV case-finding and focus on maintaining PLHIV who are already on treatment. PEPFAR/Central Asia will intensify support to governments and local NGOs to transition to decreasing external funding for the HIV response.

II. Strategic Results

As a whole, current PEPFAR HIV activities work towards two strategic results:

1. Support HIV treatment uptake and adherence among PLHIV to improve viral load suppression; and

2. Strengthen country capacity to monitor, manage, and finance national HIV responses.

III. What USAID Does

● DEMONSTRATE INNOVATIVE COMMUNITY MODELS: USAID supports community NGOs to implement innovative models of HIV case-finding, adherence support and overall provision of HIV services to key populations in order to demonstrate feasibility for government and/or partner scale-up.

● STRENGTHEN CAPACITY OF LOCAL NGOs: USAID provides training and technical support to community NGOs made up of key population members to enable them to implement programs effectively.

● IMPROVE ACCESS TO HIV SERIVCES FOR KEY POPULATIONS: USAID and CDC work together to train government officials, health care workers, NGO staff and prison officials and staff to reduce stigma and discrimination against PLHIV and key populations.

1 90% of people with HIV know their status; 90% of those who know their status are on antiretroviral treatment; 90 of those on treatment have achieved viral suppression

IV. Current USAID Activities

USAID activities work synergistically to address issues faced by key populations and PLHIV across the continuum of HIV services. Each activity works in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan.

HIV Flagship, a contract implemented by Population Services International (PSI), has introduced innovative community HIV case-finding and support services through local NGOs. Peer navigators, who are PLHIV and/or key populations themselves, conduct peer-driven outreach and assisted partner notification and provide assistance to PLHIV in accessing government services and adhering to treatment. Working closely with AIDS Centers, they have brought many lost-to follow-up HIV patients back to care and treatment.

HIV REACT, a Cooperative Agreement implanted by AIDS Foundation East/West (AFEW) Kazakhstan, works with PLHIV key populations in prison and post-release to ensure that they have access to HIV testing and treatment, assist them to access and adhere to treatment in difficult circumstances and advocates for their particular needs to prison and health officials. The transition from prison to post-prison life is a difficult time, as most PLHIV ex-prisoners have no social support and face challenges of accessing housing, work and other necessities. In this situation, ex-prisoners are at high risk of defaulting on their HIV treatment and being lost to the health system.

LEADER, a Cooperative Agreement implemented by the Central Asian Association of PLHIV, focuses on decreasing stigma and discrimination against PLHIV and key populations, addressing policy issues which impact the ability of key populations to access HIV services, advocate for equitable access to comprehensive prevention, treatment and care, and address human rights issues affecting PLHIV. With partners, they have successfully advocated for improved policies and guidelines such as community based HIV testing and improved HIV medication procurement mechanisms and treatment algorithms.

During the current program cycle, USAID has also provided grants to UNAIDS and UNODC to advance policies which support the 90-90-90 goals.

V. Issues and Questions to be Addressed

The RFI responses should offer initial ideas (not in detail) on how to 1) assist the government(s), local NGOs, and other partners to maintain the HIV response in the context of decreasing external support and 2) ensure long-term sustainability of the HIV response.

In addition, USAID is interested in gathering information on the following specific questions.

Please respond to some or all of these questions.

Questions:

1. What activities should be implemented to ensure PLHIV currently on treatment remain on treatment?

2. How do we ensure that successful activities are taken to scale by governments?

3. What steps should be taken to ensure government funding of the HIV response as external funding decreases in each country where you would be interested in working?

4. What are the most urgent gaps to be addressed to achieve government ownership of the HIV response?

5. Long term sustainability relies on local solutions. How should local partners be engaged to ensure a sustainable country-owned HIV response?

6. What is the correct balance of policy, service delivery, and health system strengthening activities to ensure a sustained and effective HIV response?

7. What are the key health system strengthening issues in each country you would be interested in working in? (e.g. Supply chain, human resource for health, financing)

8. What is the capacity/experience of your organization to address these challenges? How would you measure the impact of your work?

[End of Section II]

SECTION III - SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

General. All comments must be submitted electronically to AlmatyAASolicitations@usaid.gov with a copy to Olessya Oliyarnik, Acquisition and Assistance Specialist, via e-mail at ooliyarnik@usaid.gov under the subject line: RFI # 72011519R00006 Maintaining Progress Against HIV in Central Asia by the date inserted on the cover letter.

The submitted information must not exceed 15 pages, including annexes/attachments.

Information The submitted response must include the following information:

Reference Number: RFI- 72011519R00006 Date:

Affiliation/ Organization:

Business Address:

Representative Name / Email:

A short technical narrative that includes:

● the organization’s capabilities, strengths, and expected contributions to address HIV challenges in Central Asia;

● responses to some or all of the Questions in the RFI; and

● documents, if any, that support the answers to the RFI Questions as attachments.

Disclaimer. The submitted documentation and content thereof becomes the property of the U.S.

Government and will not be returned. This announcement is not to be construed as a formal solicitation. It does not commit the Government to reply to information received, or to later publish a solicitation, or to award a contract based on this information. Furthermore, it does not commit the Government to pay for any costs incurred in response to this RFI. Only the information requested above will be considered.

Proprietary Information. This notice is part of Government market research. Information received as a result of this request will be considered as sensitive and will be protected as such.

Any company or industry proprietary information contained in responses should be clearly marked as such, by paragraph, such that publicly releasable and proprietary information are clearly distinguished. Any proprietary information received in response to this request will be properly protected from unauthorized disclosure. The Government will not use proprietary information submitted from any one source to establish the capability and requirements for any future acquisition, so as to inadvertently restrict competition.

[End of Section III]