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The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to increase the identification of HIV positive persons through targeted HIV counseling and testing (HCT), assist in spouse and child disclosure of HIV status, and improve linkage and enrollment of all newly identified HIV clients to HIV/AIDS care, treatment and support services. Linkage is defined as the process of identifying new HIV positive clients through a bidirectional relationship among index case testing service outlets and HIV/AIDS care and treatment facilities, enrolling newly diagnosed HIV clients into appropriate chronic care by using referral slip and/or escorting of all newly identified HIV clients to appropriate care, treatment and support services. The care and support services will serve to improve clients ART adherence, and overall quality of life of persons living with HIV (PLHIV) and their families. This in turn will reduce new HIV infections, improve the quality of life for PLHIVs, and mitigate the negative health, psychological, social, and economic impacts of HIV infection in the long term.

India is home to the third largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) in the world. There are an estimated 2.09 million people living with HIV. The Government of India (GoI) has undertaken a robust scale up of its antiretroviral treatment (ART) program, starting from eight ART centers in 2004 to over 420 centers now in 2014. Currently, over 750,000 PLWH are on ART out of 1.1 million eligible for treatment. Despite scale up success, several challenges remain for the ART program to achieve the expansion it envisages over the next five years. These include human capacity issues, loss of patients from detection to enrollment in HIV care, and late HIV detection and retention. At every stage, over 200,000 patients are lost from testing to enrollment in care, to retention in care and then to treatment. Although progress has been made in the implementation of the HIV-TB program, there are several gaps that need to be addressed. The linkages between HIV/AIDS and the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP) are suboptimal, particularly in northern states due to limited capacity and infrastructure. Only 61% (2014) of TB patients were screened for HIV and knew their HIV status in the last one year. Of those identified as HIV positive, 85% were linked to ART. However, the concern is that the referral from HIV testing and care facilities to RNTCP is quite low.

This NOFO will support implementation and acceleration of comprehensive HIV prevention, care, and treatment programs for HIV/AIDS epidemic control in Fort Portal Region of Uganda. This will entail implementation of comprehensive HIV/AIDS services in line with the new WHO guidelines,including targeted HIV testing services (HTS) to find more people living with HIV (PLHIV), especially men and key and priority populations (KP/PP) through HIV care and treatment; TB/HIV prevention, diagnosis, and treatment;elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission (eMTCT); Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC); services for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC); and associated laboratory and strategic information (SI) services through a health systems strengthening approach. Additionally, the recipient will work closely with the Ministry of Health (MOH) to strengthen the technical capacity of regional structures and District Health Teams (DHTs) for an effective public health decentralized HIV/AIDS response. Expected outcomes include improved access,coverage, and quality of HIV services ensuring 90% of PLHIV know their status;90% of people diagnosed with HIV infection receive antiretroviral therapy (ART); and 90% of those on treatment are virally suppressed.

PEPFAR South Sudan collaborates closely with the Republic of South Sudan (RSS) Ministry of Health (MOH) and other key partners to implement the HIV/AIDS National Strategic Plan (NSP) and has developed a five year PEPFAR strategy for the RSS. By targeting geographic areas with high HIV prevalence, PEPFAR will assist the RSS to reach the HIV programmatic goal/tipping point of 16,000 net new HIV patients on treatment and an annual reduction of new HIV infections to below 13,000 by 2017. A primary objective to reach this goal requires improved availability and quality of HIV services for families and other high-impact populations using a public health approach. Under this funding opportunity announcement (FOA), PEPFAR South Sudan prioritizes working in collaboration with the MOH to implement the following approaches: 1) expand HIV testing and counseling (HTC) through high-yield testing approaches, 2) improve access to ART services for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, their partners, and children, 3) strengthen pediatric HIV testing, care and treatment within a family centered approach, and 4) advance the development of a sustainable infrastructure for South Sudan's workforce. This FOA solicits a combination of capacity building and mentorship for the RSS MOH at the national, state and local levels as well as through direct service delivery to complement the MOH, Global Fund and other partner efforts to scale-up HIV prevention, care and treatment programs in South Sudan.

Mozambique is at a critical junction of controlling its HIV/AIDS epidemic in order to meet The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) goal of 90-90-90 by 2020 and 95-95-95 by 2030. Reaching these goals not only requires robust clinical interventions, but simultaneously requires addressing social, cultural, and legal barriers that inhibit equal access to health services for all people living with and affected by HIV. This requires not only the training of those at a local level who interact with people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) or other vulnerable populations but also building the capacity of civil society organizations that can assist with improving uptake of HIV services as well as improving retention and linkages. This NOFO will increase the availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality of HIV services provided in health facilities or community level by implementing innovative activities that reduce stigma and discrimination, increase retention and linkages of HIV and TB services, improve health facilities’ redress mechanisms, optimize care for HIV and TB patients, and improve patient rights and access to quality services for PLHIV.

Cameroon is one of the 30 countries with the highest burden of TB/HIV co-infection worldwide. Only 54% of TB cases were notified in 2016 and 5.5% were children. TB treatment coverage was 55% and treatment success 84%.Despite implementation of TB and HIV strategic plans, TB case finding, diagnosis, and management remain suboptimal. TB/HIV co-infection remains high, Isoniazid Preventive Therapy (IPT) implementation is limited, and antiretroviral therapy (ART) services are not fully integrated in TB clinics. Human resource capacity is limited, and there are continued challenges with stock management.Cameroon adheres to the Sustainable Development Goals and the WHO Strategy to END TB. This NOFO will support development of models to improve screening, case identification, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of TB among people living with HIV (PLHIV). It will also strengthen HIV testing, ART initiation, clinical monitoring, and care for TB clients, and strengthen health systems by building monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and infection control (IC) capacity. These interventions will strengthen TB/HIV services and improve capacity for an effective TB/HIV response in Cameroon.

This FOA will support national facility based case management activities implemented through associations of persons living with HIV (PLHIV). Activities include peer support for HIV treatment adherence, preventing and minimizing loss-to-follow-up and improving retention in care, and facilitating linkage of all HIV patients and others affected by HIV to comprehensive HIV services. The FOA will support planning, program and financial management; coordination and collaboration with partners and stakeholders; capacity building at different levels; training and deployment of case managers and adherence supporters to high load HIV care and treatment facilities. The awardee will conduct supportive supervision, mentoring, monitoring and evaluation of case management activities, and will maintain an updated inventory of available services in the catchment area of respective health facilities. These activities will minimize patient attrition, optimize adherence and improve patient outcomes.

The current FOA aims to support HIV preventive interventions in Mozambique targeting KP and OVP in provinces of Mozambique characterized by high prevalence of HIV, rapid development and increasing number of multinational companies, transport corridor areas, high mobility and transient male workforce, increased tourism, and increased HIV risk from commercial sex work and transactional sex, which together constitute some of the main factors driving the epidemic in Mozambique. A successful FOA respondent will support the adoption of combination prevention approaches targeting behavioral, biomedical, and structural interventions to ensure effective reach and impact on target population. Interventions aim to increase knowledge of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among KP and other priority populations, reduce sexual risk behavior, increase knowledge and access to preventive commodities among target population. Interventions will also promote HIV testing and counseling (HTC) and create demand for the uptake of HTC services by KP and OVC, increase access to HIV, STI and tuberculosis (TB) services in addition to other health care services, and support access to universal coverage of HIV treatment for all eligible PLHIV within KP and OVP.

The purpose of this FOA is to stimulate research on interventions to reduce HIV/AIDS-associated stigma and its impact on the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and on the quality of life of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH). Specifically, this initiative will support research on a) novel stigma reduction interventions that link to increase in care-seeking behavior and/or decrease in transmission; b) reducing the impact of stigma on adolescent and/or youth health; c) strategies to cope with the complex burden of stigmatization due to HIV and one or more comorbidities/coinfections; d) reducing effects of stigma on and/or by family members or caregivers of PLWH; and e) innovative and improved stigma measurement in the context of implementation of an intervention. The overall goals are to understand how to reduce stigma as a factor in HIV transmission, to eliminate or mitigate the aspects of stigma that limit beneficial health outcomes for the infected and at-risk individuals and communities, and to initiate exploratory studies to determine the feasibility of stigma interventions related to HIV prevention, treatment and/or care in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs).

CDC, in collaboration with the National AIDS Control Program/Department of AIDS Control, has successfully laid the foundation for quality standards and approaches within India's vast HIV laboratory network through a previous five-year laboratory strengthening funding opportunity announcement (FOA). Many achievements were made during the course of the five-year project period, including accreditation of national and state reference labs. This follow-on FOA is expected to build upon and sustain previous accomplishments through onsite mentoring and in service staff training with an eye to higher quality services and scale up. A plan will be developed to facilitate laboratory quality at the grassroots level for 12,000 + Integrated HIV Testing and Counseling Centers (ICTCs). This shall be done through trainer/mentor creation within the HIV laboratory network to assist peripheral laboratories in implementing minimum quality standards. Given its expanded technical assistance (TA) scope, it is also expected to build the capacity and assure quality in a phased manner for HIV related tests like CD4 enumeration, HIV viral load and STI through strengthening leadership and mentoring capacity within the laboratory network. Now in Phase IV of its HIV/AIDS response, the Government of India (GoI) is keen to address any gaps in testing coverage.

The overall goal of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to utilize a district model approach to scale-up HIV prevention and treatment interventions to create an AIDS free generation in four districts in Lesotho. This will be achieved by implementing interventions to expand coverage of provider-initiated testing and counseling (PITC) and linkage into care services and treatment; reduce the rate of mother to child transmission to less than 5% and keep the mother-baby pairs alive; increase coverage of HIV treatment both to reduce AIDS-related mortality and to enhance HIV prevention; ensure that all TB-HIV co-infected people are initiated on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and retained in care; and strengthen the capacity of District Health Management Teams (DHMT) to routinely deliver high quality HIV programs in each district. The goal and activities of this FOA are in alignment with the Lesotho National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan (NSP) . The four service districts will be Leribe, Berea, Quithing, and Qacha's Nek, which have a combined estimated population of 750,000.

The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to strengthen HIV strategic information (SI) in Senegal through design and implementation of a national HIV case reporting system and other surveillance activities in support of the national Strategic Information (SI) program. This announcement allows for the expansion of existing HIV surveillance activities in Senegal with the following program goals and objectives: * Implementing a round of surveillance among pregnant women attending ANC based on routine prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) program data by 2016 through the evaluating and strengthening the quality of routine PMTCT data and HIV testing. * Supporting the Senegal National AIDS Control Program (CNLS) to establishing a national HIV case surveillance system by 2019 through the strengthening and expansion of the pilot case surveillance system initiated in 2013.

EMPOWER is a five-year program with the goal of preventing new Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections in targeted populations in PEPFAR priority districts in Malawi. EMPOWER will strive to increase use of proven, high impact, HIV prevention interventions by high-risk and underserved populations. A further objective is to identify undiagnosed HIV-infected persons (HIV case-finding) and link them to life-saving antiretroviral treatment (ART). Through EMPOWER, USAID plans to award up to five cooperative agreements to implement four related HIV prevention components: (1) Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC); (2) DREAMS Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) Services and HIV Case-Finding (3) Comprehensive Condom Programming (CCP). Up to two awards are anticipated to implement component 1 and one or more each to implement components 2, and 3. Multiple components could be combined under one larger award.

The goal of this NOFO is to provide comprehensive HIV services in Zambia to the general population in areas of high HIV prevalence; and priority populations (PPs), including people living with HIV (PLHIV), adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), men, couples, pregnant women, prisoners, and key populations (KPs). Services to be provided will include: community-based HIV testing services (HTS); HIV prevention services (risk reduction counseling,gender norms, and links to post gender-based violence (GBV) care); TB prevention and treatment, and community based antiretroviral therapy (ART). These services will be linked with community health care facilities. The recipient(s) will work closely with the relevant District Medical Offices (DMOs) selected in consultation with CDC Zambia. To ensure efficiencies and program effectiveness, this NOFO will support activities that complement activities supported by the Zambian government and partners with full transition to the local districts by the end of year five.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to strengthen the capacity of the Government of Haiti (GOH) to effectively prevent HIV infections; improve care and treatment of HIV/AIDS and co-infections with emphasis on tuberculosis; build the capacity for the local and regional collection of strategic information and its use for program management and development; and increase the Government of Haiti's capacity to lead and manage a sustainable response to the HIV epidemic. The awardee will work directly with the GOH (and their local implementing partners) to identify the country's needs and priorities in managing a sustainable country-led response to the HIV epidemic. By the end of five years, the awardee will have provided sufficient technical assistance and capacity building in the identified priority areas to achieve an increased ability for the partner country to sustainably lead the activity. The recipient (grantee) of these funds is responsible for activities in multiple program areas designed to target underserved populations in Republic of Haiti. The grantee must show a measurable progressive reinforcement of the capacity of indigenous organizations and local communities to respond to the national HIV epidemic, as well as progress towards the sustainability of activities.

US CDC will, through this FOA, fund four (4) awards to build and improve upon a number of HIV community care and service activities supported by US CDC, including community-based care for adult and OVC activities managed by implementing partners under six separate agreements that are ending in March 2016. These awards will also strengthen the capacity of communities and families in high-prevalence areas of Cote d’Ivoire to ensure the well-being of their most vulnerable members, including OVC, PLHIV and most at risk groups (adolescent girls, adult Men and mobile population) in Cote d'Ivoire. This FOA is intended to strengthen HIV/AIDS retention and adherence in care and treatment among PLHIV including children using an Optimum linkage between facility-based programs/services and community efforts through collaborating with NGOs and relevant Government entities. It will enhance community-based organizations' capacities to increase linkage from prevention activities to HIV services.

US CDC will, through this FOA, fund four (4) awards to build and improve upon a number of HIV community care and service activities supported by US CDC, including community-based care for adult and OVC activities managed by implementing partners under six separate agreements that are ending in March 2016. These awards will also strengthen the capacity of communities and families in high-prevalence areas of Cote d’Ivoire to ensure the well-being of their most vulnerable members, including OVC, PLHIV and most at risk groups (adolescent girls, adult Men and mobile population) in Cote d'Ivoire. This FOA is intended to strengthen HIV/AIDS retention and adherence in care and treatment among PLHIV including children using an Optimum linkage between facility-based programs/services and community efforts through collaborating with NGOs and relevant Government entities. It will enhance community-based organizations' capacities to increase linkage from prevention activities to HIV services.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is the mechanism through which the CDC-Rwanda program, under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), will support implementation of evidence-based HIV prevention interventions in key populations. Dynamics and drivers exist among key populations (KPs) in Rwanda, increasing their risk of HIV infection and its transmission to the general population. This component will implement evidence-based HIV prevention interventions in KPs, comprised mainly of female sex workers (FSWs) and men who have sex with men (MSMs). Some of the interventions will target sexual partners of these populations as well. The focus will be on the identification of KPs, provision of a comprehensive package of prevention services, implementation of a Test and Link to Care (TLC) model, initiation of treatment as prevention based upon national guidelines for HIV-positive KPs, adherence counseling, and follow-up of HIV-uninfected KPs.

This NOFO seeks to provide infrastructure support and technical assistance to Mozambican Ministry of Health (MOH) health clinics and facilities in order to scale-up HIV and TB services through PEPFAR. This NOFO will provide technical assistance to help address MOH infrastructure needs as well as providing overall alternative solutions to improving the health infrastructure either through renovations, pre-fabricated (pre-fab) structures, or equipment necessary for the improvement of HIV/AIDS and TB services across the clinical cascade. Sites for infrastructure support will be selected based on MOH and PEPFAR priorities. Health centers may require different infrastructure solutions which may include pre-fab structures for warehouses, pharmacies, laboratories, and medium-sized health units. Supported health facilities may be geographically dispersed throughout Mozambique and involve rural and urban areas. The accomplishment of these objectives will support the Government of Mozambique’s goal of promoting epidemic control through an increased facility maximum HIV patient capacity and will in turn facilitate the country’s HIV strategic goals.

Zimbabwe’s HIV epidemic is declining but remains generalized, with a national prevalence of 14%, incidence among adults 15-64 years of 0.45% (~32,000 new infections annually) and a mother to child transmission (MTCT) rate of 5.2%despite prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) coverage of 93%. There are approximately 1.4 million people living with HIV (PLHIV), steadily increasing as PLHIV live longer on treatment. However, testing, treatment, and viral suppression coverage lag behind the 90-90-90 targets; in particular, the“first 90” where 74% of PLHIV know their status. Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Care (MOHCC) has highlighted human resource challenges across the entire continuum of HIV service delivery. As Zimbabwe has adopted the UNAIDS Fast Track strategy for epidemic control, differentiated care becomes increasingly necessary to increase convenience and access and decongest clinical facilities. These strategies have been piloted in different settings, but require rapid scale-up. This NOFO aims to reach epidemic control in the challenging, resource-constrained environment of Zimbabwe. Through a comprehensive approach addressing facility and community-based services, the recipient will provide direct support and technical assistance (TA) to accelerate the HIV service delivery cascade and improve data quality and utilization for decision-making. The NOFO is also an opportunity to partner with the MOHCC to develop creative and sustainable solutions.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to fund research on HIV-associated cancers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) through collaborative efforts between investigators in United States (U.S.) and investigators in LMICs. The FOA will also support the enhancement of research capacity of LMIC institutions for research in this area. The FOA solicits applications for Specialized Center Cooperative Agreements (U54) for research on HIV-associated cancers from research institutions in the U.S. and LMICs.  Each application is required to propose between two to three research projects that address high-priority questions relevant to both the LMIC and the NIH HIV/AIDS research agenda.  The proposed projects may range, as appropriate, from basic research to translational efforts as well as population and implementation studies.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to fund research on HIV-associated cancers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) through collaborative efforts between investigators in United States (U.S.) and investigators in LMICs. The FOA will also support the enhancement of research capacity of LMIC institutions for research in this area. The FOA solicits applications for Specialized Center Cooperative Agreements (U54) for research on HIV-associated cancers from research institutions in the U.S. and LMICs.  Each application is required to propose between two to three research projects that address high-priority questions relevant to both the LMIC and the NIH HIV/AIDS research agenda.  The proposed projects may range, as appropriate, from basic research to translational efforts as well as population and implementation studies.