SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Zambia Prevention, Care, and Treatment IIB - HIV/AIDS Services - Justification and Approval
- Notice Date
- 9/30/2014
- Notice Type
- Justification and Approval (J&A)
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- Agency for International Development, Overseas Missions, Zambia USAID-Lusaka, Department of State, Washington, District of Columbia, 20521-2310
- ZIP Code
- 20521-2310
- Archive Date
- 10/30/2014
- Point of Contact
- Ayana W. Angulo, Phone: 260-211-357000, Cecilia N. Kasoma, Phone: 260211254303
- E-Mail Address
-
aangulo@usaid.gov, ckasoma@usaid.gov
(aangulo@usaid.gov, ckasoma@usaid.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Award Number
- AID-611-C-14-00001
- Award Date
- 9/30/2014
- Description
- Cleared Justification and Approval a) Nature and/or description of the action being approved. This approval request is to issue a new sole source contract for a period of 14 months from September 1, 2014 – October 31, 2015 and a total estimated cost of $24,900,000 to FHI360, the contractor currently implementing ZPCTII (Zambia Prevention, Care, and Treatment II) under Task Order No. AID-GHH-I-01-07-00043. USAID/Zambia is requesting approval to issue a new sole source contract because the IQC ordering period ended per IQC No. AID-GHH-I-00-07-00043-00. b) A description of the supplies or services required to meet USAID’s needs (including the estimated value). USAID/Zambia acquired the services described below under existing task order no. AID-GHH-I-01-07-00043 for a period of performance of June 1, 2009 – August 31, 2014 and a total award value of $124,099,097. The total obligated amount is $124,099,097. USAID/Zambia requires a continuation of technical, in-kind, and material assistance given to 430 Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) health facilities in six provinces to ensure the effective delivery of life-saving HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care services for a total estimated cost of $24,900,000. These services include antiretroviral therapy, clinical care and support, clinical monitoring, and palliative care services for new clients meeting the threshold for treatment and/or care and support. The contractor will provide technical, in-kind, and material assistance in the following PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) program areas: · Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV · HIV Counseling and Testing · Pediatric and adult anti-retroviral therapy · Pediatric and adult care and support · Voluntary medical male circumcision · TB/HIV · Laboratory infrastructure support c) Identification of statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition. AIDAR 706.302-70 and 40 U.S.C. §113; See Action Memorandum entitled “Expedited Acquisition and Assistance Procedures for Prevention, Care, and Treatment of HIV” approved on February 11, 2014. The actual EPP is attached to this J&A for the contract file. d) A discussion of the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition that requires use of the authority cited. The U.S. government Mission in Zambia is in the process of negotiating and finalizing PEPFAR resource allocations to the agencies responsible for implementing PEPFAR programs. USAID expects to receive final approval decisions in June 2014 – two months prior to the end of the current task order’s period of performance, August 31, 2014. These decisions will impact the overall PEPFAR budget for USAID, the balance of prevention vs. care and treatment funding, the scope of planned PEPFAR-funded contracts and grants, and the beneficiary-related targets. Upon receiving final direction on the Zambian PEPFAR strategy from the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, USAID intends to finalize the acquisition strategy and requirements documents for the planned five-year HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment contract. USAID anticipates that the documents will be finalized in August 2014. At the onset of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief program in Zambia, the Government of the Republic of Zambia agreed that United States Government agencies in the country needed to rationalize the supported areas to avoid duplication of activities. USAID is responsible for the six Northern provinces and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supports the four Southern provinces. It is critical for USAID to maintain HIV/AIDS sector support for delivery of services in those provinces because no other donors provide comparable support in these provinces. A new follow-on procurement is in its initial stage with an anticipated date of award of July 01, 2015. In the interim, USAID needs a new contract from September 1 – October 31, 2015 to continue supporting the GRZ in the aforementioned HIV/AIDS program areas to ensure that the 430 health facilities do not lose the gains made during the last five years of the current task order. While USAID/Zambia anticipates awarding the new fully competed contract on July 1, 2015, the proposed new sole source contract will end on October 31, 2015 to enable a smooth transition between the incumbent contractor and the new contractor and mitigate the risk of a prolonged gap in technical services provided to the GRZ during the start-up phase of the new, fully competed contract. Suspending support could result in more than 191,000 HIV+ beneficiaries losing access to and/or failing to adhere to Antiretroviral Therapy (ART). This proposed acquisition will ensure sustained service delivery in those sites while USAID is finalizing the strategy for implementing HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care interventions in Zambia. Moreover, any gap in coverage would undermine a critical clinical study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health currently underway in Zambia to study the efficacy of preventing the spread of HIV by incorporating door-to-door community outreach to increase the number of people receiving counseling and testing and immediately putting HIV+ individuals on antiretroviral therapy regardless of the CD4 count. To ensure the minimum standards of required care are maintained, study participants receive services at facilities supported by the U.S. Government. Under the current task order, six facilities serve as control sites and are linked to this study, which ends December 2016. The new award will contain the requirement to continue providing services to the six control site facilities supported by the USAID. The proposed contractor, FHI360, has been implementing the principal HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment activities in Zambia since 2004. The contractor currently assists the GRZ in offering critical HIV/AIDS services in 430 health facilities by: (1) assessing and providing initial and on-going health care provider training; (2) mentoring clinical staff; (3) collecting and reporting critical data to the Ministry of Health (MOH); (4) equipping laboratories; (5) funding infrastructure improvements; (6) providing commodity quantification and forecasting support; (7) providing capacity building assistance to provincial and district medical officers; and (8) augmenting facility level staff with volunteers. FHI360 has the established relationships with the MOH at the district, provincial, and national levels; local and international staff members in place; and the infrastructure and equipment available to seamlessly continue providing core support services to the MOH with only a slow-down in services to account for the transition from the existing task order to a new short-term contract. e) A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable. It is not practicable to solicit from other sources given the bare minimum HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment requirements this short-term acquisition will address. Additionally, USAID must avoid a disruption in services and award a contract by September 1, 2014. f) A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable. The proposed cost is determined to be fair and reasonable based on extensive, current historical cost data (i.e. the burn rate) with this contractor and the ability to mobilize international staff without incurring the usual initial start-up and international travel and transportation costs. g) A description of the market research conducted (see FAR Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason(s) market research was not conducted. USAID reviewed existing contract mechanisms, historical burn rate data, previous vouchers for the ZPCTII contract, PEPFAR country operational plan (COP) FY15 targets, and consulted with internal and external stakeholders. The current ZPCTII contract was competitively awarded through the AIDSTAR I Indefinite Quantity Contract No. AID-GHH-I-00-07-00043-00. The IQC ordering period was June 8, 2007 – June 7, 2013 and because it expired, competition among the IQC holders is no longer an option. No existing contract mechanisms are in place that would accommodate this requirement. The services described above represent the minimum requirements based on the consultations with stakeholders and the PEPFAR Annual COP (Country Operational Plan) FY15 targets. These targets are set as part of the U.S. Mission to Zambia’s interagency process involving the Department of State’s Office of Global AIDS Coordinator, USAID, and the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Peace Corps, and the Department of Defense. h) A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition. No sources submitted a written expression of interest in writing. i) A statement of the actions, if any, USAID may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition of the supplies or services required. The Development Objective Team for Health began planning the strategy for providing all health services to the people of Zambia in 2012. Throughout this process, the team consulted with USAID/Washington, other donor organizations, and the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) to propose an approach to addressing health needs in Zambia. This USAID-required project planning process culminated with a Mission Director-approved Project Appraisal Document (PAD) in May 2014. Approval of this document provided the required authorization for the activity manager and contracting officer to finalize the strategy for the planned full and open competitive award to be awarded in July 1, 2015. USAID/Zambia is planning to release a Request for Proposal for a full and open competition for the next HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment contract beginning no later than September 2014. USAID has taken the following actions to remove all barriers to competition: · Negotiated a detailed milestone plan for the upcoming acquisition detailing steps for both the activity manager and contracting officer with target completion dates; · Completed significant market research and drafted an individual acquisition plan; and · Posted the mid-term evaluation report for the current ZPCTII contract on www.fbo.gov USAID will take the following actions: · Post the draft Statement of Work and Evaluation Criteria for comments upon finalizing the requirements; · Keep the business forecast updated with accurate information; and · Release the solicitation for the planned five-year award no later than September 2014
- Web Link
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FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/375a7f14426894c18ec6be2e439af2f2)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Zambia, Zambia
- Record
- SN03538700-W 20141002/141001000912-375a7f14426894c18ec6be2e439af2f2 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
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