Consultant for development of guidance document for procurement of quality assured medicine in health facilities

Short Term Consultant for detailed baseline assessment and development of guidance document for quality assured medicine procurement at health facilities

The U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) is a scientific nonprofit organization that sets standards for the identity, strength, quality, and purity of medicines, food ingredients, and dietary supplements manufactured, distributed, and consumed worldwide. USP’s drug standards are enforceable in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration, and these standards are used in more than 140 countries.

The Promoting the Quality of Medicines Plus (PQM+) program, funded by USAID and implemented by USP, improves access to quality-assured priority medicines and addresses the proliferation of poor- quality medical products in low- and middle-income countries. PQM+ will strengthen medical product quality assurance systems through cross-sectoral and systems strengthening approaches and the application of international quality assurance standards across the pharmaceutical system. By sharing scientific expertise and providing technical support and leadership, PQM+ helps create resilient and robust local health systems that address diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases, as well as improves maternal, newborn and child health.

USP is seeking a consultant to perform detailed baseline assessment of current practice of procurement of medicine in health facilities enlisted with health insurance board (HIB) of Nepal. Based on the rapid assessment of current scenario, develop guidance document for the health facilities to ensure the quality assured medicine procurement by the health facilities enlisted with health insurance board and at the level of local government unit (LGU). The consultant will work alongside the technical team of PQM+ Nepal and expert of health insurance board along with the local government procurement officials considering assessment and development of guiding document for procurement of quality assured medicine in the facilities. 

Role:

The overall role of the consultant is to assess the current practice of procurement of medicine in health facilities enlisted with national health insurance board and under the local government unit as a baseline by developing an assessment tool and method to conduct rapid assessment of the current practice to reduce the supply of substandard and falsified medicine in the health facilities. With the gap analysis of the rapid assessment report, the consultant in coordination with PQM+ technical team will draft, review, and finalize the guidance document for the procurement of quality-assured medical commodities in the health facilities enlisted by the insurance board and local government unit.  

Scope of work

• Orientation of PQM+ technical team and health insurance board officials about the procedure and use of rapid inspection tool to collect the data from health facilities and revise accordingly before implementation,
• Prepare and finalize the detailed rapid assessment report of current procurement practice of pharmaceuticals in health facilities and local government level. 
• Draft, review and finalize the quality assured medicine procurement “Guidance Document” in health facilities to ensure supply of quality assured medicine. 

Level of effort (LoE)

The selected consultant will orient PQM+ technical team and health insurance board officials about the procedure and use of rapid inspection tool to collect the data from health facilities and develop procurement guidance document to ensure quality assured medicine in health facilities. The total level of effort (LoE) including the assessment report, finalization of guidance document and reporting will be 17 days.

Deliverables

• Rapid assessment report 
• Quality assured medicine procurement guidance document

Basic Qualifications

• Master’s degree in pharmacy, public health, health science, or related field; a higher degree will be an advantage,
• At least 10 years of experience in supply chain management or procurement of health commodities or regulatory environments,
• Experience and in-depth knowledge in the legal and regulatory framework of the public and private procurement process of quality assured health commodities. 
• In-depth knowledge on quality assurance of the medical products during the time of procurement, shipment and storage of medical products.
• Knowledge about due diligence requirements of USAID.

Application Process:

Eligible consultant/s may submit an Expression of Interest based on the above SoW/Requirements including their per day basis consultancy fees, CV, and sample of previous work. Application should indicate the subject as “Consultant for development of guidance document for procurement of quality assured medicine in health facilities” and submit to usp.nepal@usp.org by 31st October 2021(5.00 PM)

Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for further process.