A -- Program for the Prevention of Blindness

The National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health intends to negotiate with the World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland for the continuation of a contract to maintain and coordinate research and training activities in relation to the prevention of blindness and for the utilization of eye care services in developing countries. The work to be performed will be as follows: the contractor shall maintain an established coordination module for research activities. This includes preparing and refining research protocols and coordinating and obtaining clearances with relevant national authorities and the U.S. Government. The coordination module develops and maintains contacts with interested parties and collaborating personnel and institutions for the accomplishment of all research. The module also participates in the planning and implementation of necessary fieldwork. In addition, three tasks will be conducted. The first will be an evaluation of selected national blindness prevention programs with regard to the prevalence of visual impairment, impact on service delivery, patient outcomes, and assessment of global economic burden including direct monetary costs and personal costs related to a range of quality of life issues. This evaluation will include programs in China and India as well as six WHO regions, including Africa, Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Europe, South-East Asia, and the Western Pacific. The second task will assess the magnitude and type of refractory anomalies in school-age children and in adults from different ethnic/cultural settings. The surveys in children will be conducted utilizing an already developed and approved study protocol, augmented with a new questionnaire to assess the range of activities requiring different refractive powers to serve as a surrogate for environmental exposures relative to vision. Assessment of the level of vision requiring correction of refractory anomalies will be considered relative to the level of resources commonly found in developing country health services. This task will comprise approximately a dozen surveys across the six WHO regions. The third task will provide technical assistance and guidelines for prevention of blindness research, interventions, and monitoring/evaluation of eye-care delivery outcomes. As part of this task, the contractor will convene a research policy and planning meeting to develop a broad-based plan of action for technology transfer and capacity building in developing countries and to evaluate the impact of these efforts on the delivery of eye care services. Workshops will be established to develop guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of patients with eye diseases and disorders and evaluate the impact of these guidelines on the practice of eye care, including patient outcomes. This task will also entail investigation, across geographic regions and among diverse ethnic groups, of barriers hindering necessary and appropriate eye care services among persons with diabetes. An international workshop to review the global burden of glaucoma will also be convened. Statutory authority: 41 U.S.C. 253 ( c ) (1), as set forth in FAR 6.302-1. The cited authority is applicable because the World Health Organization is the only facility in the world that is uniquely qualified to conduct and complete this important international project. This is NOT a Request for Proposal. See Numbered Note 22.