Improving Social Protection and Health (ISPH)

The German International Cooperation (GIZ) has been commissioned by the German Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ) to implement the project ""Improving Social Protection and Health (ISPH)"" in Cambodia in collaboration with and under the stewardship of the National Social Protection Council (NSPC) with an implementation period from 10/2021-09/2022. ISPH spans across two sectors (social protection and health), and several Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) will be signed with the different line ministries including the Ministry of Health (MoH) which will among others cover the subject of this tender: the Laboratory Systems Strengthening component. The Laboratory Systems Strengthening component aims to support the MoH in (i) improving the national framework for the human lab system, (ii) strengthening the capacities of 12 selected laboratories for quality-assured diagnosis, (iii) improving the PCR testing capacities of 7 selected laboratories and (iv) to strengthen the laboratory system and network in Cambodia through an evidence-based, multi-level learning approach. Needs for capacity development exist in relation to compliance with quality standards and the acquisition of the necessary technical, methodological and managerial skills. (i) To improve the national framework, the project will assist the MoH in the development or revision of national policies, strategies, standards, guidelines, tools, and their applications including digitalization of the Cambodian Laboratory Information System (CamLIS). (ii) To improve medical laboratory diagnostics (ii), the project will support the Bureau of Medical Laboratory Services (BMLS) and the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH,) as well as 12 selected laboratories of which 7 are COVID-19 testing laboratories. It will focus on the capacity development of selected laboratories in the implementation of the Laboratory Quality Management System (CamLQMS) Standards for Accreditation adapted from ISO 15189:2012- Requirements for quality and competence in medical laboratories. (iii) To improve the PCR testing capacities, the project will support the NIPH to build capacity for setting up a national COVID-19 EQA program and will support the 7 selected COVID-19 PCR testing laboratories in improving their performance in LQMS implementation and in External Quality Assessment (EQA) proficiency testing. (iv) To strengthen the lab system and network, the project will develop and institutionalize an evidence-based, multi-level learning approach. The MoH (BMLS, NIPH) plays an important role in providing mentors and learning formats in support of the better implementation of LQMS. Hence, the project will support MoH for establishing a pool of laboratory mentors that are proficient in adult learning approaches. Formats will include in-service training, on-site mentoring, and exposure visits. Remote video conferencing technology has been used successfully in Cambodia as a training and mentorship support modality and has also been used to build communities of practice for the exchange of ideas and best practices in quality improvement in health care. The project will also support the MoH to build the capacity of in-house trainers in adult training methodology. To accomplish the above-mentioned objectives, GIZ is looking for an experienced agency/contractor to support MoH.