Under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, USAID Announces Contract to Swiftly Deliver Lifesaving Medicines and Supplies to Developing Countries
Consortium of 15 Institutions to Implement Award
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 27, 2005
2005-082
Press Office: 202-712-4320
Public Information: 202-712-4810
www.usaid.gov
Contact: USAID Press Office
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, announced a contract to strengthen the lifeline of essential drugs and supplies for people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases in developing countries. The winning team is called The Partnership for Supply Chain Management (the Partnership) and is a leading consortium of 15 separate institutions from the private sector, non-profit and faith-based community, and is well connected to existing delivery and purchasing systems in the developing world.
The award was determined by an interagency selection panel, half of which included representatives from USAID, as well as representatives from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Defense. The panel's overall decision was unanimous.
Designed by an expert interagency team headed by the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, SCMS further advances the Emergency Plan's initial strategy for an effective and accountable supply chain system to help developing countries rapidly scale-up prevention, care and treatment programs. Based on the winning proposal, the contract funds up to $77 million in system operating expenses and technical assistance over the first three years. The drugs and supplies handled by the system could total $500 million or more over that same period. The contract will be responsive to requests from countries and programs in the field and will be adjusted accordingly.
Specifically, SCMS will provide one-stop shopping for programs to obtain important HIV/AIDS-related products. These will include facilitating the purchase of lifesaving antiretroviral drugs; drugs for opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis; quality laboratory materials such as rapid test kits; and supplies like gowns, gloves, injection equipment, cleaning and sterilization items.
"The U.S. government believes that without local, sustainable capacity, nations cannot fully 'own' the fight they must lead against HIV/AIDS. This capacity is a prerequisite for national programs that achieve results, monitor and evaluate their activities, and sustain their responses for the long-term," said Randall L. Tobias, the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator.
Implemented by USAID's new Division of Supply Chain Management within the Bureau for Global Health, SCMS will establish a transparent and accountable system for the secure and reliable supply of high-quality, low-cost products. Critical components of the supply chain include:
- Developing and maintaining a competitive and transparent procurement system, including forecasting future need and leverage volume purchasing to achieve significant reductions in the current cost of supplies;
- Establishing a quality assurance plan to manage documentation and ensure quality of supplies;
- Providing freight forwarding and warehousing services to facilitate consolidation and shipping from manufacturers worldwide;
- Establishing in-country support teams to provide the highly complex technical assistance needed to improve existing programs;
- Developing Management Information Systems to track supplies provided through SCMS by estimating needs by recipient programs, financial accounts by country and funding source, production and warehouse stock levels, and the status of all shipments in-transit.
"By building human and institutional supply chain capacity in developing countries, this system will help rapidly expand prevention, care, and treatment for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS," USAID Administrator Andrew S. Natsios said.
The Partnership for Supply Chain Management includes:
- Affordable Medicines for Africa - Johannesburg, South Africa
- AMFA Foundation - St. Charles, Ill.
- Booz Allen Hamilton - McLean, Va.
- Crown Agents Consultancy, Inc. - Washington, DC
- Fuel Logistics Group (Pty) Ltd. - Sandton, South Africa
- International Dispensary Association - Amsterdam, Netherlands
- JSI Research and Training Institute, Inc. - Boston, Mass.
- Management Sciences for Health, Inc. - Boston, Mass.
- The Manoff Group, Inc. - Washington, DC
- MAP International - Brunswick, Ga.
- The North-West University - Potchefstroom, South Africa
- Northrop Grumman Information Technology - McLean, Va.
- Program for Appropriate Technology in Health - Seattle, Wash.
- UPS Supply Chain SolutionsSM - Atlanta, Ga.
- Voxiva, Inc. - Washington, DC
The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is a five-year, $15 billion, multifaceted approach to combating HIV/AIDS, including bilateral programs in more than 100 countries around the world. As of March 2005, the Emergency Plan has supported anti-retroviral treatment for more than 235,000 men, women and children through bilateral programs in 15 of the most afflicted countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. More than 230,000 of those being supported live in sub-Saharan Africa. The U.S. continues to support treatment for more people than any other donor in the world.
The U.S. Agency for International Development has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years. For more information on USAID, visit: http://www.usaid.gov.
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