Assisting the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MOHSS) in Providing Critical Human Resources for Health to Achieve HIV Epidemic Control in Namibia under PEPFAR

Description

The goal and objectives of the program is to solicit comprehensive and cost-effective technical assistance, capacity building and program implementation expertise for PEPFAR and Global Fund-supported global health activities (with emphasis on but not limited to HIV/AIDS) in the five programmatic areas listed under the purpose section of this FOA. This announcement will also support Global Fund implementing partners in assessing HIV service delivery and will develop technical assistance plans and strategies. This FOA will not provide direct program implementation. Rather, it will provide technical assistance support to PEPFAR and Global Fund implementing partners engaged in program implementation and scale-up activities.This FOA will support HHS/CDC’s efforts to provide high-quality, targeted technical assistance to ensure that the PEPFAR and Global Fund-supported countries have the capacity and necessary technical expertise to assume responsibility for service delivery and adequately respond to their HIV epidemics. While this announcement will address several of the overall program goals and objectives, it will primarily focus on five critical PEPFAR-supported technical areas. Applicants are expected to respond to one or more of the following program areas:Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS (PMTCT);HIV Care and Treatment Clinical Services for adults and children;HIV Pediatric Care and Treatment (PEDs);Surveillance and Strategic Information (SI); andLaboratoryThrough this supplemental funding opportunity announcement (FOA), the applicant will provide human resource (HR) services and support to recruit and compensate qualified individuals, contractors, and consultants in seven high HIV burden areas in Oshana, Omusati, Ohangwena, Oshikoto, Kavango, Zambezi, and Khomas with an estimated population of 1 million with the goal of strengthening the health information management system of the MOHSS. These critical human resources for health will allow the MOHSS to better meet PEPFAR objectives and achieve HIV Epidemic Control (HEC) in Namibia.PEPFAR Namibia is committed to supporting Namibia’s National Strategic Framework (NSF) for HIV (can be obtained from the Namibia MOHSS; not available online) in providing 95% of all eligible people living with HIV (PLHIV) with anti-retroviral therapy (ART) by 2017. By meeting this target, Namibia will be able to control the HIV epidemic and ultimately achieve an AIDS-free generation.Namibia is faced with one of the most severe public-health workforce shortages in the world. This FOA aims specifically to increase access to and the supply of qualified health professionals, technical specialists, and administrative support staff in the seven high HIV burden regions through the following HR services and support: advertisement, recruitment, deployment, compensation, payroll administration, personnel support, and human resource management (HRM). In addition, this FOA will increase access to technical expertise through short-term contracts and consultants in the high HIV burden regions mentioned above.Since 2003, PEPFAR has supported Namibia’s effort in the fight against AIDS. Despite great strides in HIV prevention and treatment, HIV remains the number one public health priority in Namibia with an adult prevalence rate of 14.0%. UNAIDS outlined the ambitious 90-90-90 global targets to achieve epidemic control: 90% of PLHIV diagnosed; 90% of those who test positive on ART; and 90% of those on ART are virally suppressed by 2020. PEPFAR 3.0 has five agendas - Impact, Efficiency, Sustainability, Partnership and Human Rights.Namibia’s NSF for HIV (revised 2016/2017) has even more ambitious goals than UNAIDS, with the aim to reach 95% of eligible PLHIV with ART by 2015/16. There is a clear synergy and alignment between the two goals. In order to achieve the goal of epidemic control within a short period of time, Namibia needs to shift the focus of HIV response from routine orientation to identifying HIV positive individuals and linking them to treatment.Inadequate HR (absolute numbers and geographic mal-distribution) pose a major challenge for achieving targets. 80% of doctors in Namibia work in the private sector, but only 20% of the population seeks health care through the private sector. The Report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (2013) identified major systems barriers associated with Human Resources for Health (HRH), including high vacancy rates, high attrition, and outdated staffing norms that do not accommodate the current and emerging health system needs. Namibia relies mainly on expatriates (doctors, nurses, pharmacists) to fill critical health positions.Alignment with PEPFAR/Host Country National Government Priorities: The applicant is expected to align with Namibia’s NSF goals for HIV; adapt guidelines and standard operating procedures approved by Directorate of Special Program (DSP)/MOHSS, including quality assurance activities and program monitoring and evaluation (M&E); work in close consultation with regional and district health management teams and administrative authorities; and engage community members in the planning and implementation of HIV programs. The NSF (2015/2016) acknowledges that a comprehensive capacity assessment of the HIV/AIDS response in Namibia has not been conducted; however, inadequate HRH at the program and service delivery level are described as a “critical capacity gap.”

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