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)
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