Message-ID: <3.0.1.16.19990211112436.60ffe0fe@pop.igc.org> Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 11:31:33 -0500 From: Mark Storey <mailto:mstorey@IGC.ORG> Subject: NOTIFICATION OF INTENT TO SOLICIT US PARTNERS To: mailto:INTDEV-L@pete.uri.edu
Below please find copy of "Notification of Intent to Solicit US Partners for New Health Partnerships in the New Independent States (NIS) of the Former Soviet Union."Feel free to forward it to any institutions that might be interested in applying.
Thank you
========================= AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL HEALTH ALLIANCE
Notice of Pending Solicitation
To: All Interested Parties
From: American International Health Alliance (AIHA) Suite 750 1212 New York Ave, NW Washington, D.C., 20005
Date: February 10, 1999
Subject: Notification of Intent to Solicit US Partners for New Health Partnerships in the New Independent States (NIS) of the Former Soviet Union
Summary
With funding support from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the American International Health Alliance (AIHA) will release, on or about February 16, 1999, a solicitation for US partners to participate in new health partnerships in nine countries of the New Independent States (NIS) of the former Soviet Union. AIHA anticipates that up to twenty partnerships could be funded through this solicitation. The majority of these new partnerships will be focused on improving primary care through the development of community-based models that show meaningful results locally and are replicable nationally. Three partnerships will address the development of health management education programs. One partnership will address the improvement of emergency services and the development of a national trauma center. Applicants will have 45 calendar days to prepare and submit their proposals.
Background
On September 30, 1998, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded the NIS Health Partnerships Program to the American International Health Alliance (AIHA). The Health Partnerships Program is designed to promote sustainable partnerships between US and NIS communities and institutions that foster more effective and efficient delivery of health services in the NIS. Through its previous program, AIHA supported thirty-one partnerships in the NIS. AIHA is initiating plans to develop and support up to twenty new partnerships in accordance with the strategic direction of the USAID Missions in the region. As under the previously funded hospital partnership program, the new partnerships are expected to transfer skills, know-how and lessons learned largely through highly voluntary, community-based "people to people" contacts, much in keeping with the US Government's "Partnerships for Freedom" initiative in the NIS. Under the new program, AIHA is seeking to expand the range of possible partnerships beyond the original, hospital-to-hospital model, to include partnerships encompassing a much broader range and collection of health related institutions such as academic health centers and schools of health professions including public health and health management, medical group practices, healthy community and other non-governmental organizations, state and county departments of health, citizens health advocacy groups, and professional associations. AIHA and USAID believe that partnerships embracing many of these institutions and organizations, can more comprehensively assist their counterpart communities in the NIS improve the health of their citizens.
Focus of New Partnerships
In accordance with USAID strategies for the region, AIHA anticipates that most of the new partnerships will have as their focus the improvement of primary care. These primary health care (PHC) partnerships will develop broad-based, community-oriented, PHC services in a local governmental jurisdiction (equivalent to a US city or county) that can serve as a model for national replication. In support of the USG's emphasis on the development of civil society and democratization and in furtherance of promoting sustainable, decentralized approaches to meeting social service needs, the Health Partnerships Program increasingly incorporates the use of a "healthy communities" methodology that brings together all key community stakeholders in a collaborative local health assessment and priority intervention process. Partners will design a systematic community-oriented planning approach that includes a community health assessment, multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary involvement by key stakeholders, and an examination of factors involved in restructuring the existing delivery system of ambulatory care. Services will emphasize disease prevention, health promotion, and the development of evidence based quality care in a family-centered primary care environment. An emphasis will be placed on integrating health services within the larger social services context and on the development of supportive community based NGO's. Community mobilization and training, or re-training, of primary health care practitioners including nurses and allied health personnel will be key features of each partnership. In a few instances the partnership will place a stronger emphasis on health professions education, including the development of curricula and faculty. An interdisciplinary approach will be sought to compliment other international donor efforts establishing education programs for family physicians.
In addition to the PHC partnerships, AIHA anticipates that it will solicit US partners to assist in the development of educational programs in health management education - HME partnerships - in three NIS countries. These partnerships are expected to be similar in scope to several of AIHA's previous and current partnerships in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. US partners will assist their counterparts in the development of curricula, faculty and educational materials related to degree and non-degree based programs in health services management and policy development.
Finally, AIHA anticipates that it will solicit a US partner to assist in the improvement of emergency care and the development of a national system for trauma and disaster response in the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Potential applicants should be aware that in each instance, AIHA expects to have selected the prospective NIS partner on the basis of extensive consultation with national and regional governmental authorities and USAID. In each instance, the prospective NIS partners and their governments are making explicit significant commitments in resources including all of their respective human resources and most capital and operating costs. In many instances, the NIS cities or regions chosen are part of a broader regional assistance effort by the United States government. AIHA and USAID are in the final stages of determining the NIS partners and the anticipated solicitation will identify the NIS partner with as much specificity as possible. For the purposes of the solicitation, prospective US partners are not expected to have previous contact, knowledge or experience with the NIS partner but rather demonstrate the capacity and commitment to assist the partner in furtherance of the program's objectives.
A more detailed description of the types of partnership by NIS country and specific community or institution is provided below.
Partnership Model
Through grants to successful applicants, AIHA provides support for partnership exchange travel, limited equipment and supplies, shipping, partnership communication and coordination costs, and participation in workshops, conferences and training sessions. Applicants will be asked to demonstrate their willingness to undertake the commitments of a partner required under the AIHA partnership model, including significant in-kind contributions, travel to the NIS, hosting the NIS partners, reporting on partnership outcomes, and attending partnership orientations, training, workshops and conferences. Partner institutions are expected to contribute the human resource component of their activities and customary institutional indirect charges. Each new partnership will be funded for an initial two-year period and is expected to involve approximately 20-30 professional exchanges in each direction annually; successful partnerships may be extended for a third year, contingent on USAID funding.
AIHA expects to be an active "partner" in every partnership, providing key support services that enable the partners to bring their resources to bear more effectively and get the most out of their efforts, identifying and securing significant additional voluntary services from AIHA's own strategic partners, and providing a framework for collaboration within a larger international and policy context.
The needs of the NIS partners are immediate and AIHA expects partnerships to begin their activities immediately after awards are made. Successful applicants should be prepared to participate in a series of post-award preparatory activities between May and July 1999. These will include a three-day orientation session in Washington for US partners, an assessment visit of the US partners to their NIS partner, a preliminary visit of the NIS partners to their US partner city, and a four-day AIHA workshop in the NIS with both US and NIS partners to develop the partnership's detailed two-year workplan.
Solicitation Process
AIHA will be seeking applications from organizations or groups of organizations that would make appropriate partners. In the case of the PHC partnerships, this is likely to include representation from some or all of the following types of institutions: local county departments of health, health care facilities and provider networks, community health centers, schools of the health professions, community-based non-governmental organizations, and professional associations. In the case of HME partnerships, applicants are likely to be university based programs of health management, health administration or health policy education with demonstrated linkages to the practitioner community and experience in developing degree and non-degree, short course, programs. In the case of the Uzbekistan partnership, AIHA is seeking applicants that can assist in the development of a region-wide trauma system including both emergency and pre-hospital care components. AIHA is currently collaborating with the government of Uzbekistan in establishing first responder training capacity.
Whenever appropriate, applicants will be expected to demonstrate broad-based community support and involvement. Successful US applicants will be matched to NIS facilities/organizations to form the health partnerships. Applicants may apply for a specific partnership or elect to be considered for any one of a group of partnerships, by type or country.
The solicitation will be available on AIHA's web-site (www.aiha.com), where interested parties may download it. Organizations who have sent inquiries or formal requests to receive the solicitation will be sent copies as e-mail attachments. Interested organizations which require hard copies of the solicitation should notify AIHA, so arrangements can be made to ensure its timely delivery.
Informational sessions will be held to provide additional information about the partnership program, the grant process, and the selection criteria. The first of these sessions is tentatively scheduled for February 26 in Washington, DC. Information regarding additional sessions will be provided in the solicitation.
This notice is for informational purposes only. AIHA is not bound by this notice to issue any solicitation or to award any grant. AIHA retains the right to change the number, type, country, and site of the partnership grants covered by the solicitation.
Anticipated Country, Site and Type of Partnership
--------------------------------------------------------------- Partnership Focus/Type: Community-based Primary Health Care
Armenia (2) - Regions yet to be determined Belarus (1) (limited size and duration) - Administrative district of City of Minsk Georgia (1) - Region yet to be determined Russia (3) - Siberia - Kurgan Oblast; Far East - Sakhalin or Kharbarovsk Oblasts; Novgorod Oblast Ukraine (6) - City of Kiev; L'viv Oblast; City of Odessa or Odessa Oblast; Kharkiv Oblast; Donetsk Oblast; Other Oblast or City to be determined Kazakstan (1) - City of Astana
--------------------------------------------------------------- Partnership Focus/Type: Community based primary care with emphasis on related health professions' education including basic PHC skills, nursing and health administration.
Kygyzstan (1) - Bishkek (Kyrgyz State Medical Academy and two model practice sites) Turkmenistan (1) - Ashgabat (Ministry of Health Department of Continuing Education)
--------------------------------------------------------------- Partnership Focus/Type: Health management education; Health policy and administration
Armenia (1) - Yerevan (National Institutes of Health Education) Georgia (1) - Tbilisi (institutions to be determined) Kazakstan (1) - Almaty (Kazakstan School of Public Health)
--------------------------------------------------------------- Partnership Focus/Type: Emergency medicine, trauma network development
Uzbekistan (1) - Tashkent (National Center for Provision of Urgent Medical Care and affiliated regional centers)