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During the last nine years, the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has worked with nations around the world to build capacity to prepare, detect, and respond to pandemics. Through previous funding opportunity announcements (FOA) and subsequent cooperative agreements, CDC and its international partners and national ministries of health focused on three pillars: 1) preparedness and communication; 2) surveillance and detection; 3) response and containment. The success of this developed capacity is evident across the globe. Through these cooperative agreements, CDC and partners have: Developed national government public-health pandemic preparedness plans Developed pandemic communication plans Improved laboratory capacity and infrastructure for influenza virologic surveillance Enhanced epidemiology capacity and infrastructure for disease surveillance Developed sentinel, hospital-based surveillance for severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) Enhanced integration of laboratory and epidemiologic surveillance for influenza Developed surveillance for cases and clusters of respiratory and febrile illnesses that could represent emerging new pandemics. Trained local rapid-response and containment teams. Developed infection control guidelines in public health-care settings for the prevention of avian and pandemic flu. It is critical that these new capacities be sustained and strengthened over time to ensure global capacity to detect and respond to pandemic influenza effectively.

NIOSH uses cooperative agreements to arrange collaborative surveillance and research opportunities with state health departments, universities, labor unions, and nonprofit organizations. NIOSH funds a broad array of cooperative agreements to develop knowledge for preventing occupational diseases, injury, and death. The U24 cooperative agreement mechanism will be used to provide tribal nations, states, and large municipalities with technical assistance and services to build occupational safety and health (OSH) program capacity and promote the use of multiple-source surveillance data. The awardee(s) will advance education and translation through the operation of an open-access online repository for occupational health information and surveillance data. States, Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and tribes will draw upon relationships with their stakeholders to use surveillance data to take action such as identify or support tribal and state priorities, and guide coordinated, targeted efforts to protect workers; monitor statistical and other trends and progress over time (i.e., burden and impact); propose pilot and evaluation activities for addressing disease burden or impact; conduct educational and outreach activities; and to develop prevention and intervention recommendations.

Botswana has both a high prevalence of HIV (25% among persons 15-49 years of age) and a high incidence of TB (455 new cases per 100,000 population per year). Drug resistance is a concern with both diseases. High quality surveillance and monitoring data are needed for effective disease control efforts. This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) has two primary objectives. Both are meant to support ongoing efforts of the Botswana Ministry of Health (MOH). The first objective is to strengthen the capacity of the TB laboratory and surveillance systems focusing on drug resistance and system integration. The second objective is to a) complete the national rollout of PIMS II (Patient Information Management System) to health care facilities and development of the national data warehouse and b) to support development and implementation of an HIV surveillance strategy at national- and district-levels.

The purpose of this NOFO is to provide funding and technical assistance for PEPFAR countries to establish HIV recent infection surveillance to detect recent infections, monitor trends in the HIV epidemic, identify hot spots associated with recent HIV transmission, and inform programmatic interventions to reach epidemic control. Point-of-care tests for recent infection distinguish between recent (HIV seroconversion in the last 6 months, on average) and non-recent HIV infection and provide results within minutes. These data may be linked to HIV case-based surveillance for ongoing epidemic monitoring and used by programs to provide enhanced counselling for immediate ART initiation, prioritize index testing, and intervene to prevent HIV transmission. This NOFO will require a multi-disciplinary team with expertise in surveillance, laboratory, prevention, HIV testing services, health informatics, data management, data analytics, and supply chain to support the planning, implementation, and impact evaluation of this PEPFAR priority activity.

The purpose of this program is to support the development of population-based surveillance systems and data linkages for persons with congenital heart defects (CHDs) using non-research CDC cooperative agreements. An estimated 2 million persons in the United States are living with a CHD, yet little is known about their long-term outcomes. High-quality data will improve the public's understanding of the epidemiology and public health significance of CHDs. Surveillance data will allow monitoring of special sub-populations with CHDs and potentially identify risk factors and prognostic factors for identifying opportunities and developing effective secondary prevention strategies directed at reducing the personal and public health impact of CHDs and improving the lives of individuals with a CHD. The planned objectives of this NOFO are: COMPONENT A: Surveillance of CHDs among individuals aged 1-45 years through linkage of existing data sources 1) D

his FOA will assist Liberia in intensifying its surveillance of EVD through training Epidemiologists at the local and National level, providing National Epidemiologist EVD subject matter experts to assist County field teams in their work; as well as provide logistical support, supplies and equipment for Epidemiology Field teams to be able to conduct EVD surveillance. Laboratory systems will be strengthened through the assistance of a Senior Laboratory Data specialist, upgrades to the Laboratory Data Integration systems, and provision of much needed laboratory supplies, reagents, and equipment. EVD Chain of Transmission activities will include assessment of facilities throughout the country; and epidemiological active surveillance country wide, at the county level. Health Care Workers and community health leaders will be trained on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) activities, and infection prevention and control (IPC) activities.

The purpose of this FOA is to support a more efficient method for jurisdictions to de-duplicate the National HIV Surveillance System. The applicant will develop a privacy data-sharing tool capable of identifying potential duplicates across jurisdictions. Activities will include acquiring a Security Assessment and Authorization, negotiating with the 59 jurisdictions to obtain their participation, providing a data sharing tool that will allow for secure, encrypted submission and matching of person-level HIV surveillance data, and providing a report back to jurisdictions on matching levels.

The purpose of this NOFO is to support a more efficient method for HIV surveillance jurisdictions to identify potential interstate duplicates. The recipient will develop and provide a secure, encrypted, on-going privacy data-sharing tool capable of identifying potential duplicates across jurisdictions, implement necessary data security, confidentiality and privacy protections according to CDC standards, obtain participation agreements with 59 state and local health department HIV surveillance programs that will allow on demand submission and matching of person-level HIV surveillance data, and report back to jurisdictions on matching levels in formats that are importable into local/state HIV data systems.

The purpose of this project is to: 1) continue a birth defects surveillance system implemented under award #1U01GH000487 in four main hospitals in Kampala, Uganda focusing on major external structural birth defects; and 2) conduct a nested case-control study concurrently with the surveillance to determine if maternal use of cotrimoxazole or ARTs during very early pregnancy is associated with a higher risk of birth defects in newborns. Results from this study will provide background rates of birth defects in Kampala and provide baseline estimates of maternal medication use to treat HIV/AIDS in pregnancy and the prevalence of major external birth defects.

The purpose of this NOFO is to better understand the public health and clinical impacts of living with MD by conducting longitudinal, population-based surveillance and research of eligible MDs (DMD, BMD, DM, FSHD, LGMD, CMD, EDMD, OPMD, and Distal MD). The current cycle will focus on identifying eligible MD cases, conducting longitudinal follow-up and research, analyzing data, and publishing and disseminating the results. Current MD STARnet sites will collect data to estimate prevalence and survival and additional clinical data on existing MD cohorts. New MD STARnet sites will focus on identifying eligible MD cases and collecting data to estimate prevalence, survival and track key clinical indicators. Identification of cases through population-based surveillance will enable existing and new sites to conduct research on these populations. This information is expected to advance understanding of diagnosed prevalence, disease progression and survival; clinical care and interventions and their alignment with recommended care; disparities in access to care; the association of treatment with outcomes, and the impact of MD on the lives of affected individuals and their families.

In Uganda, key and priority populations (KP/PP) have a higher prevalence of HIV and more difficulties accessing prevention and care services. This NOFO will improve the development, implementation, and monitoring of accessible, appropriate, and targeted HIV combination prevention for KP/PP in Uganda. This NOFO will result in an increased use of these services by KP/PP, which will result in these high risk sub-populations attaining the 90-90-90 goals and achieving epidemic control by 2020. The recipient will provide technical assistance (TA) to CDC comprehensive regional implementing partners (IPs) on developing, monitoring, and evaluating new ways to provide combination prevention to KP/PP; implementing and evaluating a nationwide training on gender and sexual identity; and cascading a KP training nationwide to health workers to reduce stigma and discrimination. Strategic information (SI) activities, including improving the collection of routine surveillance data, mapping KP/PP hotspots, and evaluating interventions will support the development and implementation of accessible, appropriate, targeted combination prevention for KP/PP. The recipient will support the Ugandan Ministry of Health (MOH) to improve surveillance of HIV in KP/PP (including population size estimates and bio-behavioral studies) and develop comprehensive guidelines for service provision to KP/PP.

This notice of funding opportunity supplemental expansion will support foreign governments through their ministries of health or other responsible entities for human health or public-health emergency preparedness in Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, the Maldives, Mali, Mozambique, Republic of Tunisia, and South East Europe (a multi-country proposal from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro). The principal purpose is this additional year of funding is to extend support of routine influenza surveillance and build capacity to respond to and contain a highly pathogenic virus transmissible among humans in the above-referenced countries. A second intent is to support the development of epidemiologic, virologic, and related capacity to detect, respond to, and monitor changes in influenza viruses, as well as identify outbreaks of severe respiratory illness syndromes. A third intent is to increase participation in the World Health Organization Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) and capacity to share specimens and clinical/epidemiologic data on the circulation of influenza in the identified countries.

PEPFAR South Sudan works in collaboration with the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) Ministry of Health (MOH) in implementing the HIV/AIDS National Strategic Plan (NSP) based on a priority action approach and strong collaboration and coordination among different stakeholders. PEPFAR South Sudan has prioritized supporting the MOH in strengthening their national laboratory system with the primary objective of supporting the diagnosis, treatment, prevention and surveillance of HIV through high-quality laboratory services. This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) solicits technical assistance (TA) to strengthen the GOSS MOH laboratory and blood transfusion services systems. Outcomes will include the overall strengthening of the National Reference Lab, implementing and achieving accreditation for quality assurance systems; strengthening service delivery through increased technical assistance to lab testing programs, and training and accreditation for the national blood safety programs. The ultimate outcome is a national integrated quality-assured network of tiered laboratories providing quality clinical laboratory services with the capacity to support the diagnosis, treatment, prevention and surveillance of HIV and other diseases and support the establishment of the National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) and the National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS).

Reliable, efficient laboratory services and networks are fundamental components of effective, well-functioning health systems and are essential for patient management, disease detection and control and surveillance. The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to support the Ministry of Health in Mozambique to strengthen the integrated national laboratory network in order to ensure the provision of quality laboratory services for clinical diagnosis, screening, research, and surveillance to support HIV care and treatment and the achievement of an AIDS free generation. The FOA will address the following cross-cutting elements of laboratory systems: governance and management of the integrated laboratory network, strengthening institutions to build and retain a quality laboratory workforce, and building technical and scientific capacity and implementing quality management systems towards accreditation. The expected project outcomes include:* Increased efficiency of laboratory network operations* Increased implementation of quality management systems through a technically and financially sustainable quality improvement and accreditation program owned and implemented by the Ministry of Health* An increase in the coverage and quality of external quality assessment (EQA) services* Improved adherence to laboratory biosafety standards* Improved quality of laboratory pre-service training * Increase in number of laboratory managers and leaders with Master's level training* Improved capacity of laboratory workforce and decreased reliance on external training support

The national response to the HIV epidemic in Swaziland has undergone dramatic changes and achieved major milestones up to date. As the epidemic matures in Swaziland and the country shifts from emergency response to scale-up of prevention interventions and universal access to care and treatment, the technical needs of the country are also evolving. Monitoring trends, identifying and addressing knowledge gaps, and strengthening the country's long-term capacity to use epidemiological tools to produce strategic information are now recognized as important priorities moving forward. Currently, Swaziland lacks coordinated infrastructure and capacity to formulate and address research questions that will inform programmatic and policy decisions. In addition, the country needs a robust epidemiological surveillance system for communicable and non-communicable disease to enable the detection of and efficient response to disease outbreaks. The overall goal of this FOA is to strengthen the capacity of Ministry of Health (MoH) and Ministry of Economic Planning and Development (MoEPD) to produce and effectively use epidemiological, surveillance, and research data in the Kingdom of Swaziland.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), builds upon the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) which was initiated in 1996 as one of the key activities in a national action plan to combat antibiotic resistance threats. The purpose of this FOA is to protect and promote public health by enhancing, strengthening and sustaining antibiotic resistance surveillance in retail food specimens within the NARMS program. The NARMS cooperative agreements will improve the detection of antibiotic resistance among enteric bacteria in food commodities, as well as potentially develop new sites as part of the program. Measurable outcomes of the program will be in alignment with the NARMS Objectives.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), builds upon the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) which was initiated in 1996 as one of the key activities in a national action plan to combat antibiotic resistance threats. The purpose of this FOA is to protect and promote public health by enhancing, strengthening and sustaining antibiotic resistance surveillance in retail food specimens within the NARMS program. The NARMS cooperative agreements will improve the detection of antibiotic resistance among enteric bacteria in food commodities, as well as potentially develop new sites as part of the program. Measurable outcomes of the program will be in alignment with the NARMS Objectives.

The intended outcome of this cooperative agreement is to advance the goal of a national food safety system by supporting and enhancing state food laboratories tasked with investigation of foodborne disease outbreaks in activities including: 1. Ensuring microbiological and chemical food analyses performed on behalf of the State manufactured food regulatory programs are conducted within the scope of an International Organization for Standardization (ISO)/ International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 17025 accredited laboratory; 2. Strengthening the collaboration between the laboratories and State manufactured food regulatory programs; 3. Increasing the number of State samples collected and analyzed for surveillance purposes annually; 4. Developing a stronger international rapid surveillance system for pathogen traceback through the GenomeTrakr network using a minimum set of metadata fields for all food and environmental isolates; and 5. Providing additional support to the State food laboratories through an outside association to offer trainings, workshops, and educational resources to both awardees under this cooperative agreement and to unfunded laboratories seeking ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation.

In 1994 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collaborated with a broad range of partners in clinical medicine and public health to develop an emerging infections strategy in response to the recommendations issued by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in its 1993 report, “Emerging Infections: Microbial Threats to Health in the United States.” Leading this strategy was the CDC Office of Infectious Diseases (OID)/National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID). One goal was to strengthen local, state, and federal public health infrastructures to support surveillance and implement prevention and control programs. The implementation strategy for this goal was to: 1) provide state-of-the-art training in diagnostic evaluation and testing for medical laboratory personnel to ensure the diagnosis and surveillance of emerging infections; and 2) establish a public health laboratory fellowship in infectious diseases that will train medical microbiologists in public health approaches to diagnosis and molecular epidemiology.

ntiretroviral therapy has been recommended for all persons living with HIV since 2012. However, in 2014, among persons with diagnosed HIV infection, 57.9% of all persons were virally suppressed and 48.1% of youth were virally suppressed (https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/library/reports/surveillance/cdc-hiv-surveillance-supplemental-report-vol-22-2.pdf ). Insurers have information on clinical encounters which provide them with diagnoses codes. They also have information on pharmacy claims data and can assess if persons with a diagnosis of HIV are receiving antiretroviral (ARV) drugs.

The U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) are comprised of the three U.S. territories of American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam, as well as the three sovereign nations of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.The public health care systems in these remote islands require assistance to improve the infrastructure, capacity, and local expertise to prevent HIV in high-risk populations and to effectively address the high burden of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), tuberculosis (TB), and viral hepatitis (VH) in their jurisdictions. Additionally, laboratory capacity is limited, surveillance systems are fragmented, and provision of health care is challenging and costly due to the vast geographic distances and broadly dispersed population throughout islands across the Pacific Ocean. This integrated Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is supported by the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP) and aims to:Promote program collaboration and services integration to capitalize on the opportunity to diagnose, treat, and prevent HIV, STD, TB, and VH in persons with similar risk factors.Improve collection, sharing, reporting, analysis, interpretation, and use of surveillance data.