TDF hosted six delegates from Myanmar on a Study and Orientation Tour on the Programmatic Management of Drug-resistant TB (PMDT) from 5 to 9 October.

The tour included didactic sessions presenting an overview of the MDR-TB problem, its detection and treatment, drug and supplies management, program decentralization, and data recording and reporting.

Study visits were made to the Kabalikat sa Kalusugan MDR-TB Treatment Center of the Philippine TB Society, Inc. in Quezon City, and the Pedro Gil Health Center, an MDR-TB Treatment Site in Manila. Also visited were TDF’s culture and drug susceptibility testing laboratory and the Central Drug Warehouse of the Department of Health (DOH).

The Study and Orientation Tour was conducted by TDF, recently launched as the Regional Model Center for TB in the Western Pacific, funded by USAID with technical support from the World Health Organization (WHO)-WPRO. Its faculty included a resource person from the National TB Control Program of DOH and select members of TDF’s core PMDT staff.

Participants to the tour included: from WHO-Myanmar, Dr. Myo Zaw and Dr. Thidar Aye, MDR-TB National Consultants; from the Patheingyi TB Hospital in Mandalay, Dr. Yu Yu Wai, Deputy Medical Superintendent, and Mr. Than Naing Oo, Social Worker; and from the Aung San TB Hospital in Yangon, Dr. Khin Aye Win, Medical Officer, and Ms. Sandar Shwe, Social Worker.

The National TB Program (NTP) of Myanmar has started two pilot projects on PMDT, one is based at the Aung San TB Hospital and another at the Patheingyi TB Hospital.

The September 2009 issue of enews@TDF highlights key activities of the Tropical Disease Foundation. In this issue, enews@TDF covers TDF’s celebration of its 25th anniversary. Read about the events held at the Manila Polo Club, Forbes Park, Makati and Traders Hotel, Manila. There are exciting developments in TDF’s TB program, as TDF is selected as a new site for the TB Trials Consortium and hosts the second international course for the clinical management of drug-resistant TB in conjunction with the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease. Learn more about the First National Conference for an interim body of MSM and transgender individuals organized for a national MSM and HIV network.

“Fantastic!”

This was how Dr. Christina Drummond from Médecins sans Frontières described the Second Comprehensive Course on Clinical Management of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis, which was held at TDF’s Philippine Institute of Tuberculosis, September 21-25.

Eighteen participants from nine countries attended the yearly training conducted by the International Union Against TB and Lung Diseases (IUATLD, or The Union). This was the second time that The Union partnered with TDF to hold an international technical course on drug-resistant TB in Manila.

For TDF, this activity was in line with its being recently launched as the Regional Model Tuberculosis Center in the Western Pacific, which is funded by USAID and with technical support from the World Health Organization’s Western Pacific Region (WHO/WPR) office.

This year’s training covered topics such as approaches to diagnosis of drug-resistant TB, framework for effective MDR-TB control, rational use of first- and second-line drugs for treatment, and management of MDR-TB in special situations.

Dr. Jose Caminero Luna from Spain and Dr. Chen-Yuan Chiang served as the main instructors during the five-day course. Meanwhile, TDF officers Dr. Thelma Tupasi and Dr. Mamel Quelapio provided overviews of the Philippine experience on MDR-TB management.

“We are lucky to have heard the experiences of experts who have worked many years in TB,” said Dr. Ndapewa Hamumine, a medical officer from the Ministry of Health and Social Services in Namibia.

Dr. Vishnu Prasad Poudyal from Nepal said that the key message of the course was “how we can organize our own programs to deal with MDR-TB in our respective countries.”

All participants agreed that the course was useful in helping them rethink about the issues, models, and approaches their own countries have adopted towards managing and controlling drug-resistant TB.

The five-day training was capped by field visits to two TB treatment centers of TDF—Bahay ng KASAKA in Quezon City and the PMDT Clinic at the Makati Medical Center.

Dr. Quelapio’s visit is in line with TDF’s recent launch as Regional Model TB Center in the Western Pacific funded by USAID and with technical support from the WHO’s Western Pacific Regional (WHO/WPR) office.

The TB Trials Consortium (TBTC) is a collaboration of clinical investigators on the prevention and treatment of TB, funded by the CDC. The mission of the TBTC is to conduct programmatically relevant clinical, laboratory and epidemiologic research concerning the diagnosis, clinical management, and prevention of tuberculosis infection and disease.

According to Dr. Johnson:

“It is a privilege to work with the TDF. The TDF has an outstanding international reputation for their many contributions to the care of patients with TB, to TB control in the Philippines and to the care of patients with MDR-TB. TBTC will benefit much from having TDF as a trial site.”

“Becoming a TBTC site is an excellent opportunity for TDF and its young investigators to become part of the best TB trials networks, as it brings together strong investigators with expertise in different areas of TB including laboratory, clinical trial design, pharmacokinetics, drug resistant TB, preventive therapy and others. It has good central data management at CDC Atlanta, has the excellent reputation and the credibility of the CDC behind it. In particular, it has a clear focus on improving treatment for patients and programmes.”

Over the next ten years, TDF will receive research funds for various clinical trial studies, capacity building of its medical and research staff, and improvements in the diagnostic capabilities of its TB laboratory. TDF initially partnered with Case Western Reserve University’s TB Research Unit headed by Henry Boom, MD in 2004 when it became one of its international clinical sites for TB treatment shortening studies.

More information on this news and on the TBTC may be obtained at https://www.tbtrialsnetwork.org/tbtc/newz .

A world with everyone enjoying the right to health

Mission

The control and prevention of infectious diseases of public health importance.

The TDF’s Thrusts

• To conduct research, training and service in infectious diseases of public health importance
• To enter into partnership with public and private agencies in the implementation of programs in the control of infectious diseases
• To ensure technology transfer in developing human resources for health nationally and internationally through collaboration with national and international institutions
• To serve as a national and international training center for infectious diseases

The Foundation has been able to establish its research laboratory through grants and through the generosity of donors and friends. The Foundation has been able to pursue its activities in educational and research programs since its establishment. Notable among these were the community-based prospective studies on Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) sponsored by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the 1997 National Tuberculosis Prevalence Survey (NTPS) undertaken on behalf of the Department of Health(DOH). For the latter project, the TDF was given the 2000 Outstanding Health Research Award. This also initiated the close collaboration between the TDF and the National TB Control Program of the Department of Health through the initiation of the DOTS Clinic at the Makati Medical Center. This private-public collaboration provides free service in the management of TB patients and was the first DOTS-Plus pilot project approved by the WHO Green Light Committee for the management of multi-drug resistant TB.

TDF as Principal Recipient, Sub-Recipient, and contractor of services, has at all times acted in good faith, basing its actions on its best interpretation of the standard terms and conditions laid out in the grant agreement contracts for The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (TGF).

There has been no evidence of any personal gain found in the extensive investigations, as mentioned by Dr. Elmar Vinh-Thomas, TGF Cluster Leader for Asia and the Pacific, in a meeting held with the TDF on 24 September 2009.

TDF’s systems of grant and financial management were evaluated thoroughly by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease and Grant Management Solutions. Reports of these reviews indicated that the systems in place were appropriate.

Over the six years of the Global Fund projects, TDF’s expenditures had been periodically examined, reviewed, and audited by the LFA and external auditors, and eventually submitted by the LFA to TGF. In no instance had the LFA or TGF raised any alleged unauthorized expenditure during examinations of expenditures and assessments of financial management systems, until only recently. This is spawned by policies, rules, and regulations formulated after the expenditures were already incurred and audited. This predicament has been noted and articulated in the Five Year Evaluation Study Area 2 Results in the Global Fund Partner Environment at Global and Country Levels, Global Fund Policies and Guidelines, which states,

“The report found examples of conflicting GF policies and guidelines regarding expected rules in grant oversight and management that contribute to variability in policy operationalization and interpretation . . . ”

These observations reflect what actually happened in TDF’s case. New policies and procedures are being enforced ex post facto, after the fact that an agreement has been signed and despite the presence of an entirety of agreement clause in the standard terms and conditions. In such a situation, the TDF exercised good faith in the interpretation of policies and procedures. TDF exerted its best effort in complying with the new policy, or the interpretation of such policies or procedures to the best of its understanding, with guidance requested from the Global Fund Portfolio Manager.

Instances of conflict of interpretation of GF policies and rules, or lack of awareness of such policies, were never intentional nor with malice on the part of the TDF. All actions were done in good faith. The alleged unauthorized expenditures are actually within the authorization given to TDF, as previously instructed by its Portfolio Managers, that for so long as the objectives and the work plan and overall project budget are not changed, such adjustments do not have to be cleared with the GF.

The TDF has fully cooperated with the Office of the Inspector General during the course of the investigation. The TDF has requested details of findings and be allowed enough time to review the records of the OIG findings, and to reimburse any Global Fund monies that may have been inadvertently utilized. The TDF requested an extension of four weeks beyond September 4, 2009 to reconcile the transactions involved. However, even before this could be completed, a press release was published online at TGF’s official website on 24 September 2009, contrary to TGF’s initial announcement of providing enough time to respond to any allegations.

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The Tropical Disease Foundation (TDF) is a private, non-stock, non-profit science foundation organized in 1984. Since then, it has become a leading institution in the implementation of research, service, and training projects in infectious diseases.

For more information, please contact:

Erin Sinogba – Information and Communications Officer
Tel. No. +632.812.9183, +632.840.0714, +632.817.0489
E-mail : elsinogba@tdf.org.ph

The TDF has undertaken studies in pneumonia in children, Hepatitis B Virus infection, and antimicrobial resistance. In recent years, tuberculosis has become the main focus of research, service and training initiatives of the TDF. On behalf of the Department of Health, the 1997 nationwide tuberculosis prevalence survey was undertaken by the TDF. For this project, the TDF was awarded the Outstanding Health Research Award (OHRA) by the Department of Science and Technology.

In collaboration with the Makati Medical Center, it has provided clinical fellowship in infectious diseases. Graduates of this program have now become leaders in infectious diseases in their own right.

Offerors must prepare and submit proposals in accordance with Instructions to Offerors and Evaluation Criteria to this RFP.

Proposals (either electronic or hard paper copies) must be received no later than 12:00 Noon Manila time 01 October, 2009 at the address below. Faxed proposals are not acceptable. Offerors are requested to submit their proposal by mail, courier service, and/or by e-mail attachment formatted in Microsoft Word and/or Excel. Offerors shall confirm with Leilani Naval at lcnaval@tdf.org.ph and Marilou Ortiz at mb75_ortiz@tdf.org.ph before the closing date and time, that their e-mail submissions or hard copies were successfully received by the required due date and time.

Three hard copies each of the technical and cost proposals shall be addressed as follows:

Leilani C. Naval
Procurement and Supply Manager
Tropical Disease Foundation
2nd Floor APMC Building
Amorsolo corner Gamboa St.
Makati City 1229 Philippines
Electronic copies should be sent to: mb75_ortiz@tdf.org.ph and lcnaval@tdf.org.ph

Both technical and cost proposals must be submitted. Offerors should take account of the expected delivery time required by the proposal transmission method they choose, and are responsible to ensure that proposals (either electronic or hard paper copies) are received at the Tropical Disease Foundation, by the due date and time. Lost or misdirected courier packages received after the due date and time will be considered as having been submitted late.

Proposals which are submitted late or are incomplete or non-responsive may not be considered in the review process. The Tropical Disease Foundation may, at its discretion, extend the deadline for the submission of proposals or revise the terms of reference, by issuing an amendment to this solicitation.

Offerors are requested to hold their proposal valid for 90 days from the deadline for submission. The Tropical Disease Foundation will make its best effort to finalize selection within this period. The Tropical Disease Foundation will be under no obligation to reveal, or discuss with any Offeror, how a proposal was assessed, or to provide any other information relative to the selection process.

Offerors whose proposals are not selected will be notified in writing of this fact, and shall have no claim whatsoever for any kind of compensation. Offerors are solely responsible for their own expenses, if any, in preparing and submitting an offer to this Request for Proposal. This would include any costs incurred during functional demonstrations and subsequent meetings and negotiations.

Any questions and/or requests for clarifications in relation to the RFP must be submitted in writing via email no later than 12:00 PM, Manila time, 25 September 2009, to mb75_ortiz@tdf.org.ph and lcnaval@tdf.org.ph.

Request for Proposal for Organizational Development and Busines Plan