Building Sustainable Laboratory Quality Systems in Cote d’Ivoire under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) | CDC RFA GH16 1612

Opportunity Information: Apply for CDC RFA GH16 1612

Building Sustainable Laboratory Quality Systems in Cote d'Ivoire under PEPFAR (CDC RFA GH16-1612) is a CDC cooperative agreement designed to strengthen the country's laboratory system so it can reliably support HIV care, treatment, and testing at scale. The core goal is to build a functional, connected laboratory network that helps the PEPFAR program reach "80 saturation" for care and treatment in selected districts, meaning that a very high share of people who need services can actually access them with dependable laboratory support. The emphasis is not only on expanding coverage, but on making laboratory services consistent, accurate, and sustainable so that clinical decisions and public health actions are based on trustworthy results.

A major focus of the opportunity is improving the quality of HIV testing services across a wide footprint. The program aims to certify roughly 2,000 HIV testing sites, which signals a push for standardized procedures, quality assurance, and documented competency rather than informal or uneven testing practices. In practical terms, this type of certification effort usually involves implementing and monitoring standard operating procedures, training and competency assessments, participation in external quality assessment or proficiency testing, corrective actions when problems are found, and supportive supervision to keep performance from slipping over time. By raising the baseline quality at the point of testing, the program supports accurate diagnosis and linkage to care, reduces false results, and increases confidence in the health system.

Another key deliverable is supply chain reliability, specifically reducing laboratory stock-outs to less than 2 percent. Stock-outs in HIV and general laboratory services can halt testing, delay treatment decisions, and undermine patient trust, so the FOA highlights inventory management and logistics as essential components of laboratory quality. While the notice does not list the exact interventions, efforts tied to this target typically include strengthening forecasting and quantification, improving stock management and reporting, coordinating distribution systems, setting minimum stock levels, and coaching facilities on timely ordering and data use so that reagents, consumables, and test kits are available when needed.

The opportunity also concentrates resources on the laboratories that carry the bulk of testing volume and clinical impact. It calls for extensive coaching to staff at key laboratories that provide about 80 percent of laboratory services in Cote d'Ivoire. This "high-volume lab" strategy generally reflects the reality that a relatively small number of reference or hub laboratories process most specimens or perform more complex testing, so improving these sites can quickly raise national performance. Coaching in this context implies hands-on, ongoing technical assistance to improve workflow, quality management systems, biosafety, equipment maintenance, documentation, turnaround times, data management, and continuous quality improvement practices rather than one-time classroom training.

Beyond HIV testing and routine laboratory strengthening, the FOA specifically targets three blood bank laboratories to ensure the quality and safety of blood and blood products. The intent is to improve quality systems in transfusion services and to work toward accreditation of these blood bank laboratories. Accreditation-oriented work typically involves implementing recognized quality management standards, strengthening screening and testing procedures, ensuring traceability and documentation, improving internal audits and corrective actions, and building a culture of compliance and continuous improvement to reduce transfusion-transmitted infection risks and improve patient safety.

From an administrative standpoint, this funding opportunity was issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Center for Global Health (CGH), as a discretionary cooperative agreement under CFDA 93.067. The original closing date listed is 2016-02-10, with an award ceiling of $3,000,000 and an expectation of one award. The notice also includes an amendment that is explicitly informational: CDC is not accepting new applications for award. The purpose of the amendment is to add language related to HIV epidemic control under "Other National Public Health Priorities and Strategies," signaling that the laboratory network strengthening work is intended to directly contribute to broader epidemic control goals, not just general health system improvement.

Eligibility is described very broadly, spanning many types of organizations. Government entities at multiple levels (state, county, city/township, special districts, regional organizations, and U.S. territories/possessions) are listed, along with public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status, for-profit organizations (including small businesses), and individuals. The announcement also names specific categories such as Ministries of Health, tribal and urban Indian organizations, tribal epidemiology centers, research institutions performing non-research activities, colleges and universities, community-based and faith-based organizations, hospitals, and small, minority-, and women-owned businesses, as well as non-U.S. entities. In short, the eligibility language is expansive, though the current amendment clarifies that the listing is informational because the opportunity is not open for new applications.

• The Centers for Disease Control - CGH in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Building Sustainable Laboratory Quality Systems in Cote d’Ivoire under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.067.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2015-12-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2016-02-10. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $3,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for CDC RFA GH16 1612

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: