Building and Improving Laboratory Capacity and Quality in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) | CDC RFA GH19 1932

Opportunity Information: Apply for CDC RFA GH19 1932

This funding opportunity, titled "Building and Improving Laboratory Capacity and Quality in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)," is a CDC cooperative agreement designed to strengthen HIV-related laboratory systems across PEPFAR-supported health zones in the DRC. The central premise is that controlling HIV depends heavily on reliable, quality-assured diagnostics and laboratory services, not only for HIV itself but also for related conditions such as tuberculosis. The opportunity is framed around the global UNAIDS 95-95-95 goals, which require strong national and regional laboratory and diagnostic networks that can consistently deliver accurate testing, timely results, and usable data for patient management and program oversight.

The background for the award reflects measurable progress but also clear gaps that the project is meant to address. PEPFAR-supported efforts in the DRC have already improved access to diagnostic and patient monitoring services, with reported viral load coverage increasing from 27 percent to 56 percent between FY16 and FY17, and a reported viral suppression rate of about 75 percent. Even with these gains, the announcement emphasizes that additional work is needed to expand viral load coverage further, improve suppression outcomes, and build laboratory capacity that can be sustained over time. Sustainability is linked to continuous quality improvement and broader health system strengthening, rather than one-time equipment purchases or isolated training events. The long-term strategic context is PEPFAR DRC's goal of strengthening in-country laboratory capacity to support HIV/AIDS elimination by 2030.

Programmatically, the focus is on building laboratory capacity and improving HIV testing services in all PEPFAR-supported health zones in the DRC. A major set of activities centers on scaling up HIV viral load testing, which is essential for monitoring treatment effectiveness and identifying patients who need adherence support or regimen changes. Another key priority is expanding Infant Virologic Testing/Early Infant Diagnosis (IVT/EID), which is critical for quickly identifying HIV infection in infants and initiating life-saving treatment as early as possible. In parallel with expanding test access and coverage, the opportunity places strong emphasis on strengthening the quality management system for HIV/AIDS diagnostics. That typically implies work such as implementing and improving laboratory quality standards, routine quality control and quality assurance practices, staff competency systems, supportive supervision, corrective and preventive action processes, documentation and standard operating procedures, and the use of performance data to drive continuous improvement across the testing network.

From an eligibility and administrative standpoint, the opportunity is listed as "unrestricted," meaning it is open to a wide range of applicant entity types, subject to any additional eligibility language in the full notice. The sponsoring agency is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), under CFDA 93.067. The instrument is a cooperative agreement, which generally indicates that CDC expects substantial involvement in the project beyond standard grant monitoring, such as collaboration on planning, implementation approaches, performance monitoring, and technical direction. The award ceiling is $1,500,000, and the anticipated number of awards is one, suggesting a single primary partner responsible for leading the described laboratory strengthening effort at scale.

The applicant expectations are also clearly stated. Applicants are expected to demonstrate working knowledge of PEPFAR regulations and the ability to operate effectively within the DRC context. The notice explicitly requires maintaining an in-country presence sufficient to meet program needs, which signals that the work is operational and hands-on, involving coordination with national and subnational stakeholders, support to laboratories and health facilities, and ongoing engagement to ensure that improvements in testing capacity and quality management are implemented consistently and maintained. The overall intent is to translate investments into measurable improvements in coverage, quality, and performance of HIV diagnostic and monitoring services, thereby supporting progress toward the 95-95-95 targets and the longer-term HIV elimination agenda in the DRC.

Key opportunity details include the Funding Opportunity Number CDC RFA GH19-1932, creation date August 23, 2018, and an original application due date of October 22, 2018, with electronic submissions due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing date.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control - CGH in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Building and Improving Laboratory Capacity and Quality in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) 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 Aug 23, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Oct 22, 2018 Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 1159 p.m., ET, on the listed application due date.. (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 $1,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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