R -- Enhancement of Small Area Analysis Methods and Tools for Environmental Public Health Tracking

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contemplates awarding a sole source contract to Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine of London, England, for the enhancement of small area analysis methods and tools for environmental public health tracking. Reports of potentially raised rates of disease around environmental sources or in specific areas can cause great public anxiety and need to be handled efficiently and effectively by the authorities concerned. A common part of the response to such reports is to use routinely collected statistics to establish whether rates of the disease are higher than would be expected based on the population at risk and on a reference set of rates. The UK Rapid Inquiry Facility (RIF) was developed by the Small Area Health Statistics Unit (SAHSU) of Imperial College London in order to speed up this resource intensive part of the investigation process. The RIF is able to rapidly generate rates and relative risks for any given health outcome, for specified age and year ranges, for any given geographical area. It also produces unsmoothed and smoothed maps of relative risks, together with maps showing the demographic, socio-economic, environmental and geographical characteristics of the area. The RIF currently supports health and geo-spatial datasets developed by the SAHSU specific to the country of Great Britain. However, the functionality of the RIF holds great promise for use in a wide variety of projects that involve evaluating the spatial and temporal relationships between environmentally related diseases and environmental hazards. The Contractor shall, as an independent organization and not as an agent of the Government, furnish the personnel, facilities, materials and supplies necessary to examine the feasibility of adapting the Rapid Inquire Facility (RIF), a GIS-based analytical information system developed by the Small Area Statistics Unit of the Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine, London, England, for use in the NEPHTN, and to conduct activities that further enhance the analytic capability of the RIF and the NEPHTN to detect potential aberrations in disease and exposure through small area analyses. CDC will retain ownership of data developed under the contract. The Government knows of only one qualified source capable of providing the required services. This is not a request for proposals. Interested parties shall submit in writing: their name, address, point of contact, and telephone number. Interested parties shall also submit a brief capability statement indicating their capabilities to perform this service. This information shall be submitted in writing, or faxed to (770) 488-2688, or emailed to [email protected]. Documentation should be received within 15 days after the date of publication of this synopsis to be considered by the CDC. A determination by the CDC not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discrection of the Government.