PROJECT RAKSHA

1. Organization Background

PPHF is a health organization, working with a mission of transforming lives for improved health and wellbeing through locally driven solutions. We are registered as non-for-profit company under section 8 in India. (https://pphfglobal.org/)

People to People Health Foundation (PPHF) is a non-profit organization committed to strengthening public health in India through research, education, and policy advocacy. Its thematic portfolio includes maternal, child and adolescent health and nutrition; non-communicable diseases; infectious diseases; health-system strengthening; environmental and planetary health; and health innovation and technology.

2. Project Overview

PPHF is implementing a project to enhance the awareness, early screening and treatment of diabetes retinopathy (DR) among the diabetic population in Kolhapur District in Maharashtra and Tiruvallur District in Tamil Nadu.

For this purpose, PPHF is conducting a rapid formative qualitative assessment at the selected district level to understand the magnitude and nature of the diabetes retinopathy burden, existing screening and diagnostic practices, treatment pathways, and the availability and accessibility of care. The assessment will examine health-seeking behaviours and care pathways among people with diabetes, including when and where they seek care, how they navigate referral and treatment services and the treatment options available to them. It will also assess the availability, readiness and capacity of services across PHCs, CHCs, and district hospitals.

Therefore, the assessment will explore the barriers and enablers influencing screening, diagnosis, treatment initiation and continuity of care, including awareness and perceptions of diabetes retinopathy among patients and healthcare providers. The findings will help identify key gaps and opportunities for strengthening early identification, referral and access to appropriate and affordable diabetes retinopathy care at the district level.

3. Objectives of the Rapid Formative Research:

• Understand the current landscape of DR including awareness, screening and detection practices, treatment-seeking patterns, and the types of care and treatment options currently available to people with diabetes.
• Explore patient and community perspectives on DR careincluding knowledge, perceptions, beliefs, risk perceptions, health-seeking behaviour, treatment preferences and choices, and experiences of accessing and navigating available services.
• Examine gaps in current policies, programmes and service delivery including supply-side and demand-side constraints that may contribute to missed opportunities for screening, delayed diagnosis, treatment drop-offs or inadequate follow-up.
• Identify context-specific opportunities for action and generate evidence to guide the development of practical, scalable and sustainable interventions that can strengthen the DR care pathway and improve access to timely and appropriate care.

4. Key Activities & Methodology

• Secondary Research & Desk Review: Conduct a desk review of national and state-level data, existing practices, guidelines, policies, and health systems literature to analyze current statistics on diabetes prevalence, Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) screening coverage, and recorded DR cases.
• Stakeholder Mapping: Map key Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) and eye-health stakeholders across the state—including program managers, health facilities, non-profits, and specialist centers—with a specific focus on diabetes care and vision health.
• Facility-Level Qualitative Assessment: Conduct In-Depth Interviews (IDIs) with key facility-level healthcare providers (e.g., medical officers, ophthalmologists, optometrists, and NCD staff) to evaluate facility readiness, service delivery, and current DR screening and management practices.
• Community & Patient Perspectives: Execute Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and IDIs with patients living with diabetes and DR to explore awareness, screening history, healthcare-seeking behavior, barriers to treatment adherence, and support needed to complete treatment.
• Supply Chain & Diagnostic Infrastructure Assessment: Perform observational field visits to assess current supply chain practices, equipment availability (e.g., fundus cameras, diagnostic tools), and medication/treatment access for DR care at different tier facilities.
• Health Information & Data Integration Analysis: Examine DR and diabetes data recording, tracking, and reporting mechanisms under the Health Management Information System (HMIS) and evaluate opportunities for integration with the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) and PM-JAY.
• System Capacity & Service Utilization Evaluationn: Assess the capacity, efficiency, and referral pathways of the health system to deliver specialized DR services and evaluate overall patient utilization of screening and treatment facilities.
• Gap Analysis & Strategic Opportunity Identification: Identify systemic, financial, logistical, and awareness gaps across the continuum of care, highlighting specific intervention points to improve early DR screening, patient navigation, treatment compliance, and holistic patient support.
• Documentation & Actionable RecommendationsSynthesize findings into a comprehensive research report with concrete, data-backed recommendations detailing how stakeholders can bridge identified gaps and improve end-to-end support for DR patients

5. Time Frame & Deliverables

Methodology

A. Implementation Schedule (5-Week Timeline)

B. Phased Deliverables

• Weeks 1–2: Detailed study protocol (data collector training, field supervision plan, data collection tools), Literature Review, and Stakeholder Mapping.
• Week 3: Draft Report with recommendations/findings under each activity, accompanied by a Summary PPT.
• Weeks 4–5: Final Report (comprehensive detailed report + 2–4 page brief summary) and Final Presentation.

6. Eligibility Criteria

• The Agency should be a registered body (proprietary, partnership firm, company/society/trust) NGO and academic institute or a team of public health and health statistics experts.

• • The Agency should be in existence for at least one-two years and have experience in research and evaluation.
• • Previous work in similar sector is important.

7. Application Deadline:

Send your applications with a response to the said RFA, organization profile and work samples to procurement@pphfglobal.org .The last date of receiving applications is September 20, 2026.