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he FETP graduates, staff and trainees are important assets and help build sustainable public health capacity in their countries. Through public health conferences they share field epidemiology experiences and present work investigations through oral and poster presentations. This collaboration reinforces best practices in applied epidemiology, training, surveillance, and response and introduces new tools, concepts, and training materials. However, the region’s FETPs can be more effective if their collaboration extends beyond scientific conferences. Network development can enhance surveillance, investigation and response capacity globally through regular communication and exchange of information and allow for more robust response to regional and national public health threats. In 2009, the FETPs in the East Mediterranean Region (EMRO) began to organize a network in the Middle East that partner with MOH FETP representatives, CDC and EMRO closely collaborate to strengthen existing national FETPs and regional disease surveillance. This close collaboration and networking among programs is critical as the globe faces new and re-emerging public health threats. The recent outbreaks of Ebola and Zika viruses clearly demonstrate the need for strong local and regional programs that can mobilize rapid response teams quickly and assist countries and global partners to control disease and strengthen public health infrastructure.

The purpose of the program is to reduce the morbidity and premature mortality associated with chronic diseases and to eliminate associated health disparities by supporting capacity building, program planning, development, implementation, evaluation, and surveillance for chronic disease conditions and chronic disease-related risk factors. This program addresses the Healthy People 2010 focus areas of Diabetes (focus area 5), Educational and Community-Based Programs (focus area 7), Public Health Infrastructure - Data and Information Systems (focus area 23), and Tobacco Use (focus area 27). This program also addresses the CDC goal of "Healthy People in Every Stage of Life" ("All people, and especially those at greater risk of health disparities, will achieve their optimal lifespan with the best possible quality of health in every stage of life.") and "Healthy People in Healthy Places" ("The places where people live, work, learn, and play will protect and promote their health and safety, especially those at greater risk of health disparities.").Activities and interventions funded under this program announcement should be evidence based and implemented in consultation with CDC. When preparing the application, applicants should avail themselves of technical assistance resources available from the program to ensure that evidence-based capacity building, surveillance and evaluation activities, intervention strategies, and the infrastructure to implement them are proposed for funding.

The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to expand upon the work of the Registry and Surveillance for Hemoglobinopathies (RuSH) project so as to address the new Healthy People 2020 topic, Blood Disorders and Blood Safety. This will be a demonstration project addressing two areas of Public Health: surveillance and health promotion and prevention awareness. Applicants are encouraged to assemble strategies that both strengthen their current capacities and develop innovative approaches to accomplish the objectives of this program.

The purpose of this FOA is to provide technical assistance (TA) to the Government of Kenya (GOK) and implementing partners in strengthening their capacity to design and implement systems to collect, analyze, interpret and disseminate high quality HIV data. To achieve this, the awardee(s) will complete activities under the following program areas: Program Area A - Surveillance and Epidemiology: Support the GOK and its partners in strengthening their capacity to design, implement, analyze, disseminate, and use data from epidemiologic studies to adequately and accurately measure outcomes and impact, while informing decision making and policy in the national and sub-national HIV response. Epidemiologic studies will include surveillance, surveys, operations research/implementation science and public health impact evaluations. Program Area B - Monitoring and Evaluation: Strengthen the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) capacity of health workers in program data collection, analysis and reporting as well as cohort analysis and program evaluation. The support will also include review, revision and roll out of M&E framework, tools, policies and standard operating procedures (SOPs), M&E coordination and collaboration at national and sub-national levels and support strengthening quality of HIV data through training and mentorship. Program Area C - mHealth: The third component will entail supporting the GOK units such as the National AIDS and STI Control Program (NASCOP), National Public Health Laboratory Services (NPHLS) and Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (KEMSA) in mobile technology innovations (mHealth) projects that leverage mobile technologies to enhance efficiencies in the delivery of prevention, care and treatment of HIV.

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 light of resurgent STDs, and a public health imperative to respond to related epidemics such as HIV and opioids, this cooperative agreement proposes new approaches to community-based enhanced and sentinel surveillance integrating monitoring of STDs, HIV and behavioral data to identify opportunities and gaps in prevention and control efforts. Systematic, ongoing collection of patient-level information to monitor the occurrence of STDs is the foundation upon which STD control programs are based. Yet routine reporting by clinicians, laboratories and healthcare facilities is inherently limited and does not provide information needed to characterize the intersection of STDs with co-occurring epidemics, to identify populations at risk for adverse health impacts, or to identify opportunities and gaps in the reach of sexual health and disease preventive services. This NOFO addresses these information needs, and incorporates flexibility to respond to emergent health issues related to STDs by supporting a network of geographically diverse health departments and STD-related clinical partners to implement protocol-based surveillance activities.

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.

The purpose of the Tanzania Malaria Surveillance and Monitoring (TMSM) Cooperative Agreement is to support the Government of Tanzania (GOT) to reduce the burden of malaria and to move towards the long-term goal of malaria elimination. Under this Cooperative Agreement, USAID/Tanzania will fund malaria surveillance, entomological monitoring, and drug efficacy monitoring. Monitoring will include entomological monitoring, including insecticide resistance monitoring, and therapeutic efficacy monitoring. With the improved epidemiological and entomological data gained during the implementation of this Cooperative Agreement, the Recipient and government partners will be able to refine responses to outbreaks and foci of transmission and adjust IRS and other vector control interventions in zones with differing transmission profiles. The target populations of TMSM are pregnant women and children under five.

In 2014, CDC-Ethiopia started supporting the Government of Ethiopia to build Ethiopia's capacity to achieve the International Health Regulation (IHR) targets through implementing the Global Health Security Agenda. The initial roadmap was developed with multisector partners in 2015, and the multi-sector collaboration has proved successful as over 500 people have been trained in field epidemiology; a national public health emergency operations center exists for outbreak; and diagnostic and surveillance capacity has increased to respond to emerging disease threats. Ethiopia was the second country to conduct a joint external assessment (JEE) and has completed a costed National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS). EPHI led the multisector partners in both of these initiatives. The strategic focus areas of CDC's work to achieve Ethiopia's IHR compliance are the following: Laboratory Workforce Development Surveillance Emergency Management

To expand Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) to the community level. Currently IDSR surveillance with documentation and reporting exist from National, Regional, District to Health Zones. The last level is at the Health Zone or Community Health Post Level. Expansion of IDSR beyond the health zone level will allow documentation and reporting of IDSR priority diseases and specific health events from specific communities or villages by village volunteers or village alert committees (CVACs).

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

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).

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Central America (CA) is concentrated, with low prevalence among the adult population but high prevalence among key populations (KPs), including men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender (TG) women (male to female), sex workers (SW), and certain ethnic groups, such as the Garifuna. In alignment with the IOM's recommendations, as well as the Central America Partnership Framework (PF) and the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator's (OGAC) "Sustainability Planning Guidance Document: Advancing Country Ownership in PEPFAR III," this FOA prioritizes support for concrete efforts that assist ministries of health (MOH) in Central America to lead, manage, coordinate, and implement national responses to their respective concentrated epidemics while sustaining programmatic quality and coverage goals. Funding will support regional activities in 2 geographic clusters: Cluster A (Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica) and Cluster B (Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, and Panama). Applicants must submit a separate application and budget for each geographic area (Cluster) they intend to implement.Cluster A - Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica:* Regional expansion and enhancement of the Sexually-transmitted Infection Sentinel Surveillance and Control Strategy (VICITS, by its Spanish acronym), an HIV combination prevention intervention that includes improved STI diagnosis and treatment, condom promotion and distribution, HIV counseling and testing (HCT), linkage to care, and a second-generation surveillance information system.

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.

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.

Every year, tens of thousands of refugees and 500,000 immigrants resettle to the U.S. from overseas. CDC's Division of Global Migration and Quarantine (DGMQ) is focused on improving the health among immigrants (including Special Immigrant Visa holders), asylees, parolees, survivors of victims of torture, human trafficking victims, and refugees through public health partnerships, science, and response. These newcomers can be particularly at-risk populations, often marginalized from public health surveillance, and from preventive treatment and health care in their home countries and countries of temporary asylum. DGMQ is looking for new approaches to outreach to these newcomer populations to analyze healthcare needs, improve health literacy, and better inform clinicians of best practices in caring for these individuals. This funding opportunity will advance the Centers of Excellence in Refugee Health to the Centers of Excellence in Newcomer Health to improve newcomer health outcomes, increase healthcare provider capacity, and to increase evidence-based health policy decisions around these populations. The Centers of Excellence in Refugee Health (2015-2020) developed a secure data repository of health information of recently arrived newcomers, assisted CDC in the revision of health screening guidelines for these populations, and created an online tool to assist clinicians with the CDC health screening guidelines.The Centers of Excellence in Newcomer Health will focus on two or more areas including 1) the use of the multi-state/regional surveillance network to determine which health issues are most prominent amongst newcomer populations in the short and longer term; 2) the development of clinical training tools, presentations, and webinars to inform US clinicians of the new CDC screening recommendations; 3) the development of health orientation materials for newcomers; and 4) the development and enhancement of health information materials for clinicians and newcomers.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to (1) build effective collaboration between academic communities and public health organizations at federal, state, and local levels for surveillance, prevention, and response; (2) train public health entomologists in the knowledge and skills required to address vector-borne disease concerns, and (3) conduct applied research to develop and validate effective prevention and control tools and methods and to anticipate and respond to disease outbreaks. The Centers of Excellence (COEs) to be supported by this FOA will provide regional capacity to enhance public health prevention and response for vector-borne diseases, pushing technology closer to sites of potential transmission.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to (1) build effective collaboration between academic communities and public health organizations at federal, state, and local levels for surveillance, prevention, and response; (2) train public health entomologists in the knowledge and skills required to address vector-borne disease concerns, and (3) conduct applied research to develop and validate effective prevention and control tools and methods and to anticipate and respond to disease outbreaks. The Centers of Excellence (COEs) to be supported by this FOA will provide regional capacity to enhance public health prevention and response for vector-borne diseases, pushing technology closer to sites of potential transmission.

The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to strengthen capabilities of the Ministry of Health (MOH) and District Health Teams (DHTs) to conduct the following activities: (1) monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of HIV program including service quality assessment, (2) district led HIV programming (DLP); (3) conducting population case-based surveillance, and lastly (4) strengthening the Ministry of Health (MOH)-owned national Health Management Information System (HMIS), to generate timely, valid, consistent and complete data. This FOA is part of the PEPFAR overall sustainability plan and transition of HIV/AIDS monitoring and evaluation into the primary national health care system towards alignment to the national HIV/AIDS M&E framework and achievement of one national M&E system. The FOA also supports the PEPFAR implementation of a sustainability plan and investments in public health systems, quality improvement, and public health workforce development. At the end of the project, the main expected outcomes include increased use of information for evidence-based decision making, effective health programming at the district levels, and a well-functioning Health Management Information System. All the data collection and reporting activities will emphasize maintaining patients' and participants' confidentiality by treating information that they disclose in a relationship of trust. All of the information provided by patients/participants will be kept confidential and secure in locked rooms/drawers with limited access. Any data analyses will be conducted after all personal identifying information have been removed from electronic datasets.