RFI_Zambia Intergrated HIV and Health Activity_07_21_2021.pdf

Embassy of the United States of America

Subdivision 694/Stand 100 Ibex Hill Road

P.O. Box 320373

Lusaka, Zambia

Request for Information (RFI)

Date of Issue: July 21, 2021

Closing Date: August 19, 2021

Closing Time: 17:00 hours Lusaka time

Submission Email: oaa-solicit-lusaka@usaid.gov

Subject: Request for Information (RFI) and Market Research for Zambia

Integrated HIV and Health Project.

To all Interested Respondents/Parties:

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to collect written information about an activity with the preliminary title of “USAID Zambia Integrated HIV and Health Activity,” in which USAID seeks feedback from potential responsible non-governmental organizations that can provide sustainable, quality HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment services and family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH), maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) services in the Central, Copperbelt and Northwestern Provinces of Zambia. The main result of this activity will be to deliver quality and comprehensive HIV/AIDS and FP/RH/MNCH services through local partners. The proposed activity background is attached to this letter.

This is an RFI, not a Request for Application (RFA) or Request for Request for Proposal (RFP).

Do not submit any applications at this time; only the information requested in this RFI will be reviewed. Responses will be treated as confidential. USAID/Zambia anticipates issuing a solicitation in early Fiscal year2022.

At this time, a decision has not been finalized as to whether the instrument type will be acquisition or assistance. Therefore, this RFI is being posted on both grants.gov and sam.gov.

USAID is seeking input regarding organization’s capacity to support the USAID and PEPFAR objectives of 95/95/95, as well as service delivery and technical assistance to improve MNCH and FP/RH services and insights on integrating HIV/AIDS, MNCH, and/or FP/RH services to ensure client-centered, high-impact, high-quality services are available to Zambians. The information provided will be used to help finalize the activity design in order to improve development outcomes. USAID may revise the structure and concept of the activity based on comments received but is not obligated to do so.

Submission Instructions:

Interested parties are strongly encouraged to submit a response to this inquiry. All submissions must be via email, and should be in the following format:

Email Subject Line: USAID/Zambia Integrated HIV and Health Project RFI - Organization

Name File Attachment: USAID/Zambia Integrated HIV and Health Project RFI - Organization

Name mailto:oaa-solicit-lusaka@usaid.gov https://www.grants.gov/ https://sam.gov/content/home

(RFI) and Market Research Zambia Integrated HIV and Health

All responses to this RFI must be emailed to the attention of Brian LeCuyer, Agreement/Contracting Officer, at the email address listed above, by no later than the date and time listed on the cover letter.

Submitted documents and correspondence must be in the English language and MS/word format

(software versions 2003 or newer). The contents must be on A4 size paper, single spaced, with 12-point font, Times New Roman with one-inch margins on all sides. Phone calls or hard copy delivery of information will not be accepted. Submissions will receive an electronic confirmation acknowledging receipt. USAID will only provide responses to questions submitted to this RFI at our discretion, and no proposals or resumes will be accepted or considered.

Any Proprietary information MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. In the absence of clear marking, the Government will assume that the respondent does NOT object to the release of its submission to other Government offices or programs.

Please note that release of this RFI is not to be construed as a commitment by the U.S.

Government to issue any notice of funding opportunity or solicitation or ultimately award on the basis of this RFI. USAID is not responsible for any costs incurred in responding to this RFI nor will funding be made available prior to any award. Respondents are responsible for all costs incurred prior to award.

Thank you for your interest in USAID/Zambia’s programs.

Sincerely, /s/

Brian LeCuyer

Agreement/Contracting Officer

USAID/Zambia

Attachment

1. Proposed Activity Background

2. Request for Information

3. FAR 52.215-3 “Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes (OCT

1997)”

ATTACHMENT 1 – PROPOSED ACTIVITY BACKGROUND

Background

The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) seeks to reach UNAIDS’ 95-95-

95 goals, ensuring that 95 percent of people living with HIV know their status, 95 percent of people living with HIV are accessing treatment, and 95 percent of people on treatment have suppressed viral loads across all ages, genders, and at-risk groups by 2030. PEPFAR

Zambia is working closely with the Zambian government to achieve these ambitious targets and have made significant gains with the current HIV cascade at 91-79-74, based on current PLHIV estimates (i.e., 91 percent of people with HIV have been diagnosed, 79 percent are on treatment and 74 percent are virally suppressed) as of January 2021. In addition, Zambia has made significant progress in improving health outcomes in the maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) and family planning/reproductive health

(FP/RH) sectors. Zambia in the past decade has seen a 40 percent decrease from 2002 among all rates of infant, children and maternal mortality, according to Zambia’s recently released 2018 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS 2018). Zambia has also reduced the women of reproductive age who would like to delay, space, or limit their next pregnancy but do not use modern contraceptives from 20 percent to 14 percent, and increased the modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR) from 48 to 58 percent (DHS 2018).

As indicated in the USAID Zambia Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS)

2019-2024, “... as this milestone approaches, this CDCS will increase its focus on strengthening Zambia’s capacity and self-reliance to sustain and advance Zambia’s gains in

HIV/AIDS and other health outcomes by increasing locally led programming and system strengthening, and by promoting private sector solutions to meeting health care gaps.”

USAID/Zambia recognizes that continuing to engage the non-governmental health sector is critical to achieving HIV/AIDS epidemic control. Local entities (Government of Zambia and non-governmental entities) have made current progress possible with the support of global and bilateral initiatives such as PEPFAR and the Global Fund.

USAID/Zambia aims to design an integrated HIV and health activity to be implemented in

Copperbelt, North Western, and Central provinces that will not only provide comprehensive HIV prevention, care, treatment, and support services for people living with HIV (PLHIV) but will also integrate support for FP/RH and MNCH services. This new design may also include activities related to prevention of and response to emerging infections such as COVID-19. By integrating multiple health elements, this activity aims to synergize and leverage resources and common systems across the health sector to efficiently and effectively achieve the desired health outcomes in the geographic areas where this activity will be implemented.

In April 2018, PEPFAR launched the Local Partners Transition on a global level, with a goal of 70 percent of each PEPFAR agency’s funding going to local partners by 2020.

USAID/Zambia is exploring ways to partner with more local entities to meet this goal. In a recent secondary analysis of DHS data by Sustaining Health Outcomes through the Private Sector (SHOPS), analysts found that 89% of caregivers of sick children in Zambia seek treatment from public sector sources, further highlighting the need to ensure a strong public sector health system, as well as the need to explore more opportunities to leverage and engage with the private sector in the health space in Zambia. To assess the local market and potential responsible Non-Government Organization (NGO) sector or non-state health sector organizations, USAID/Zambia requests the following information from organizations that can provide insight, experience, and expertise on implementation of integrated HIV/AIDS care and treatment, maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH), and family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) health services in Zambia, specifically in Copperbelt, North Western, and Central provinces.

ATTACHMENT 2 – REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Respondents are invited to answer the questions and provide feedback on items listed below. Responses should be no more than five (5) pages total with up to one page summarizing your organization’s capacity to support the USAID and PEPFAR objectives of

95/95/95 and provide service delivery and technical assistance to improve MNCH and

FP/RH services. The remaining pages (up to four) should answer technical and integration of services questions and provide any other insights or experience in integrating HIV/AIDS, MNCH, and/or FP/RH services to ensure client-centered, high-impact, high-quality services are available to Zambians and improve health outcomes. Please include specific experience as it relates to the targeted provinces for this upcoming award (Copperbelt, North

Western, and Central) and any other contextual insight based on geography (e.g. urban vs.

peri-urban vs. rural). Partnerships among organizations in the submission of future proposals, including by a consortia of partners with diverse but complementary expertise, will be strongly encouraged.

Organizational Capacity Questions

(Please limit responses to 1 page)

1. Provide a brief summary of organizational core technical and structural capabilities with examples of past experience and achievement including populations served, geographic locations, models of service delivery, financial management, organizational capacity, staffing, management information system (MIS) for data, any commodity procurement and distribution as well as experience with donor funding including USG compliance standards.

2. Describe your organization's capacity, previous experience, and results with integrating MNCH, FP/RH, and HIV/AIDS services at the health facility and community levels to promote client-centered, high quality health services.

● Please describe how your organization has worked to strengthen access to and the provision and experience of high-quality MNCH, FP/RH, and

HIV/AIDS care in Zambia and/or other countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

● Describe how your organization has strengthened health systems that support the delivery of high quality MNCH, FP/RH, and/or HIV/AIDS services.

● Please describe how your organization has increased generation and use of data, evidence and learning to optimize the achievement of key MNCH, FP/RH, and/or HIV/AIDS outcomes and inform policies and programs.

Technical and Integration of Services Questions (HIV, MNCH, FP/RH)

(Please limit responses to 4 pages)

1. For each technical area, (MNCH, FP/RH, and HIV/AIDS) answer the following three questions based on your organization’s past and present experience. Include specific details about provincial or other geographic differences, if applicable.

● What is working well in MNCH, FP/RH, and HIV/AIDS service delivery?

● What challenges exist that require context specific approaches? (e.g.

challenges due to geography (provincial, district), population type, age, gender, cultural norms, etc).

● What resources can be leveraged to improve, sustain, and further integrate MNCH, FP/RH, and HIV/AIDS services?

Describe any pivotal innovations in service delivery of MNCH, FP/RH, and/or

HIV/AIDS, including high impact practices and new/underused technologies, that have improved your organization’s ability to improve health outcomes and should be considered for further expansion and/or uptake. Include any specific examples of integration across these three health sectors.

2. What challenges are associated with integration of MNCH, FP/RH, and HIV/AIDS services? What policy barriers, if any, need to be addressed?

3. What interventions are currently underway to engage with the private sector in

MNCH, FP/RH, and/or HIV/AIDS and what other opportunities exist that would strengthen continued private sector engagement and collaboration?

4. For respondents with experience in the HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment space, what innovations or approaches have shown success in reaching populations lagging behind UNAIDS 95-95-95 goals, including pediatrics, young men, and men over age 50?

5. As USAID/Zambia focuses on “strengthening Zambia’s capacity and self-reliance to sustain and advance Zambia’s gains in HIV/AIDS and other health outcomes” per the

CDCS 2019-2024, how could this integrated health activity promote and ensure sustainability within the GRZ health system?

6. What consideration must be made to ensure optimal services when shifting from a direct service delivery (DSD) model to a more technical assistance (TA) approach and how has your organization balanced both DSD and TA when implementing health programs in Zambia?

7. What efficiencies are in place and what efficiencies are needed to implement to guarantee sustainable and replicable programs that GRZ can sustain and scale in the future?

8. What specific cultural and gender norms need to be considered in order to ensure successful implementation of integrated MNCH, FP/RH, and HIV/AIDS services in these targeted provinces?

● Specific to women’s decision-making regarding FP/RH, what cultural and gender norms must be addressed alongside improving access to FP/RH information and services within routine HIV care?

ATTACHMENT 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 designing an activity with the preliminary title of “USAID Integrated Health Activity.”

[END OF REQUEST FOR INFORMATION]

https://www.acquisition.gov/far/31.205-18#FAR_31_205_18