National consultant to provide technical support for the procurement of Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs and related commodities for HIV treatment services in Ho Chi Minh City

CALL FOR CONSULTANCY SERVICES

National consultant to provide technical support for the procurement of
Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs and related commodities for
HIV treatment services in Ho Chi Minh City

I. Background:

The global USAID LHSS Activity helps low- and middle-income countries transition to sustainable, self-funded health finance systems that support high-performing overall health systems. The LHSS activity in Vietnam will work with the Government of Vietnam (GVN) to advance greater local ownership of HIV and TB prevention and control. Led by Abt Associates, the four-year activity supports Vietnam in increasing its domestic financing for HIV and TB services in the context of declining donor funding, in using government resources more efficiently, and in assuming local ownership of HIV and TB prevention and control activities. Specific objectives are: (1) Support the GVN to strengthen its public financial management systems for public company health and find greater efficiencies in social health insurance (SHI), (2) Increase and improve the efficiency of domestic financing of HIV prevention and treatment services; (3) Strengthen the capacity of Vietnam’s supply chain management system; and (4) Integrate TB services into SHI.

PLHIV in Vietnam is accessing treatment on ARVs which are procured through three funding sources: Social health insurance (SHI) fund, state budget, and donor/Global Fund. Although SHI-covered ARVs address more than 80% of PLHIV treatment needs ARVs from the state budget and donors should be in place to cover the needs of other target populations who are not eligible for SHI-covered drugs to ensure continuous treatment. For years, ARVs from Global Fund filled the gap when failure or delay of SHI or state budget-covered ARVs happened. However, as a global trend, donor is gradually decreasing their support to procure drugs for countries. Instead, Vietnam like other countries has to use its domestic resources to ensure continuous treatment.

During the transition to domestic resources, SHI ARV drugs in Vietnam are regulated to be procured centrally. However, the GVN has been facing the challenges of delay and failure in central procurement due to various reasons such as the low interest of tenders to join the bids because central procurement requires bigger efforts in framework agreement management, supply and monitoring of constraints in SHI payment.

Ho Chi Minh City is a top priority in many aspects of HIV responses in Vietnam. Over 30% of the country’s HIV patients are on ARV treatment receiving drugs in HCMC-based health facilities. Most PEPFAR Direct Service Delivery (DSD) partners are working in HCMC to support HIV treatment and prevention at site and patient level, such as USAID/Epic, C-Link, and US.CDC and several CBOs. In addition, a large number of PLHIV in the city have no personal identity information (PII) which restricts them from receiving SHI-covered drugs – the sustainable drug source currently. To support those populations, Ho Chi Minh City has allocated an amount of local budget to buy ARVs to address their needs. In this context and with the regular support from LHSS to governmental agencies for smooth implementation of ARV provision and management, LHSS will engage a local consultant in place to provide intensive technical support to HCDC to carry out the procurement process of ARV procurement through the state budget and any other related procurement of ARVs to address the needs.

II. Objective

The objective of this consultancy is to provide technical support to HCDC in

• Successfully procuring ARV drugs through the local budget to cover the needs of PLHIV without personal identification information (PII).
• procuring samples and kit tests for viral load testing.
• implementing other procurement activities to ensure sufficient ARVs and continuous treatment in the health facilities of the city.

III. Tasks and Deliverables:

Tasks:

• Study existing regulations on procuring ARV drugs, and health commodities such as samples and kit tests for viral load testing through state budget and other sources, interpreting such regulations to specific steps to implement.
• Collaborate with HCDC to resolve any problems facing the tender selection.
• Provide technical assistance to HCDC to develop the call for tender and other supporting documents.
• Review and evaluate proposals from tenders, and support HCDC to develop a tender selection plan.
• Monitor the process of development, appraisal, approval of tender selection plan, and selection of tenders.
• Monitor the contracting process and facilitate the contracting implementation.
• Other related tasks to support the procurement process.

Deliverables:

Consultant shall submit monthly reports that describe the work done in the month, key findings, and attachment of supporting documents if any. The consultant shall submit the final report at the end of the contract.

IV. Timing

The assignment should take place from September 2023 through June 2024 with a total of up to 40 working days.

V. Requirements:

• An advanced degree in medicine, health, economics, or relevant disciplines.
• 5-10 years of relevant work experience in procurement, and commodities bidding, especially on SHI reimbursement.
• Strong understanding and knowledge of bidding policies in general and for HIV/AIDS in particular
• Good knowledge and understanding of HIV/AIDS care and treatment programs in Vietnam and its current context, especially at the decentralized level.
• Demonstrate ability to work effectively with government agencies including health and social security sectors and health facilities.
• Language requirement: Vietnamese. The ability to speak basic English would be an advantage.

VI. Management of the assignment

The consultant will report to the Technical Director at LHSS Vietnam. He/She will work closely with HCDC and the relevant agencies where relevant. The consultant will also work with HCMC-led agencies, MOH/VAAC, NCDPC, and other key local and central government agencies as needed.

To apply, please send your CVs and an application letter to the following email: [email protected]

Deadline: September 28, 2023

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interviews.