Request For Relief International
Request For Relief International / QUAMED Local Medical Supplier Development Project
Dear Sir/Madam,
We write to you from Relief International and QUAMED. Relief International (RI) is a humanitarian organization working in 15 countries to relieve poverty, ensure well-being and advance dignity, responding to natural disasters, humanitarian crises and chronic poverty. In Afghanistan, RI provides medical services in Kabul, Nimroz, Helmand, Kapisa, Wardak and Panjshir. QUAMED is a global not-for-profit association of organizations and technical experts, working to improve access to quality medicines for people in all countries.
Project Overview
Relief International and QUAMED are together commencing a project to support 20 local pharmaceutical and medical device suppliers in four countries (Afghanistan, Myanmar, Syria, and Yemen), to enable humanitarian organizations and their donors to procure products locally from these suppliers. The project aims to achieve this by working with suppliers to strengthen their quality systems to meet internationally recognized standards, WHO Good Storage and Distribution Practices (GSDP), and WHO Model Quality Assurance System for Procurement Agencies (MQAS).
The total value of procurement of medical products (pharmaceuticals and other medical supplies) by humanitarian organizations for their programs in Afghanistan has been estimated to be approximately USD 100 million (equivalent to AFN 6,679 million). Currently, the majority of these products are procured directly from international suppliers, to ensure that the quality of products meet the requirements of the humanitarian organizations and their international donors. The objective of this project is for the majority of this procurement to move to local Afghan suppliers who have demonstrated satisfactory quality of products that they source, store, and distribute to customers.
Up to five suppliers will be selected from Afghanistan to participate in this project. Once selected, each supplier will benefit from a technical assistance program, by being paired with a QUAMED international GSDP/MQAS technical expert, who will work with the supplier to conduct a baseline on-site quality assessment to determine what adaptations would be necessary to meet the WHO GSDP or MQAS standards. Based on this assessment, a Corrective Action Preventive Action (CAPA) plan will be developed, along with a technical assistance development plan. Each company will then work over the 15 months to strengthen their systems and carry out all actions in their CAPA plan. The
company will be supported by the QUAMED technical expert, who will provide intensive and regular on-site and remote advice and training as needed.
In addition, recognizing that investments are needed to reach the desired level, the project will commit to provide some match-funding investment to the selected suppliers, which must be matched by the supplier at a minimum rate of 50%. (In other words, for each $1 provided by RI, the company must match this investment with $0.50 to $1 of their own investment)
At the end of the technical assistance period, each supplier will undergo a WHO GSDP or MQAS audit, from a validated QUAMED auditor, which we hope each supplier will pass.
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What you need to commit to, to participate in the project |
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Supplier Short-Listing and Final Selection Process
In this Invitation for Expression of Interest, all suitably licensed pharmaceutical importer/distributer companies in Afghanistan are invited to submit their application by completing the online Supplier Questionnaire, which includes 4 sections and requires the provision of supporting documentation. Each fully completed questionnaire will be assessed using a standardized scoring system by QUAMED technical experts. The scoring system will give a score to each question in the questionnaire, and an overall score out of 100. The ten companies with the highest overall scores will be invited to participate in the next stage.
In the final selection stage, the ten suppliers will undergo two further assessments:
- a half-day short assessment of compliance to quality standards to WHO GSDP and MQAS, conducted remotely by a QUAMED technical expert
- a half-day initial business operations and capacity assessment, conducted on-site by a QUAMED business expert
The five suppliers with the best overall result will be selected for participation in the project.
How To Submit Your Expression of Interest
As an importer and distributor of medical products in Afghanistan, we would like to invite your company to apply to be considered to participate in this project. To apply, you must fully complete the Supplier Questionnaire, either Online version [https://ee.kobotoolbox.org/x/sBgVeorr] or Word version [https://quamedvzw.sharepoint.com/:w:/s/24.010TASMQASReliefInternational/EXtQeJzIvBNGk4eGpfwgT44BA5Pi8Mt_p4jYfa6mod6DfA?e=zJ8F5d], including providing supporting documentation where requested. The questionnaire is estimated to take approximately 2 hours to complete. You do not need to complete the entire questionnaire online in one sitting. You may partially complete it, save your progress, and continue when convenient. Refer carefully to the Instructions for completing the online Supplier Questionnaire [link here], and you can review the List of Attachments [link here].
Note that the closing date for completing your online Supplier Questionnaire is 10th November, 2024. New applications or changes will not be possible after this time.
Information shared by your company will be handled strictly confidentially, will be used only for the purposes of the short-listing and selection process, and will not be shared beyond the project team. Please refer to the Confidentiality Declaration from QUAMED and RI. [link here]
If you are willing, you are encouraged to additionally complete the Supplier Market Survey questions included in the Supplier Questionnaire (Section 4). Note that completion of this is optional and does not influence the supplier selection process. The Supplier Survey consists of 4 questions to help us understand how Afghan suppliers can better meet the needs of humanitarian organizations, and how organizations can meet the needs of Afghan suppliers.
For any questions about this project, please contact either:
- Mr. Homayoun Hemat; homayoun.hemat@ri.org ; phone 0093794473554
- Mr. Abdul Wali Abid; abdulwali.abid@ri.org ; phone 0093799733889
Many thanks and best regards,
Jessica Cope Jason Bower
Country Director, RI Afghanistan Project Manager, QUAMED
Key links:
- Online Supplier Questionnaire
- List of Attachments for Supplier Questionnaire
- Instructions for Online Supplier Questionnaire
- Word version of Supplier Questionnaire
- Confidentiality Declaration
Note: If upper mentioned links do not work, please download the full package containing all the required links.