Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Building Capacity and Networks to Address Emerging Infectious Diseases in the Americas | CDC RFA CK18 1801

Opportunity Information: Apply for CDC RFA CK18 1801

This funding opportunity (CDC RFA CK18-1801) is a cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), through the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID). It supports a long-running CDC partnership with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) that began with a five-year cooperative agreement in 2008 and was reinforced by a 2011 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the U.S. government and the World Health Organization (WHO). The MOU is focused on helping WHO Member States build and sustain the core capacities required under the International Health Regulations (IHR), the global framework that guides how countries prevent, detect, report, and respond to public health threats that can cross borders. In practical terms, the grant is meant to keep strengthening how countries in the Americas spot outbreaks early, confirm what is happening, coordinate responses, and reduce the impact of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.

The central purpose of the award is to assist PAHO in carrying out the 2011 MOU as it applies to the Americas, specifically by developing and implementing coordinated plans and multi-country networks that help national governments and regional authorities manage infectious disease risks, especially emerging infections and potential Public Health Emergencies of International Concern (PHEICs). The program emphasizes improvements to global and regional alert and response systems, stronger disease surveillance and outbreak response, and better knowledge generation and tool development so that public health decisions can be made faster and with better evidence. It also aims to reinforce public health infrastructure and leadership across the region, encourage collaboration across countries and sectors, and ensure that applied epidemiology knowledge and practical resources are shared broadly rather than remaining siloed within individual ministries or institutions.

A key feature of the opportunity is that it leans heavily on PAHO's unique role in the region. The CDC describes PAHO as the only organization positioned to fully implement the proposed activities because of its formal treaty relationships with ministries of health throughout the Americas. The notice also points to prior accomplishments under an earlier award (CK13-1301) as proof of readiness and momentum, citing concrete areas where capacity has been built and can be expanded further, such as laboratory and surveillance strengthening for arboviruses including Zika, HIV prevention and surveillance with care and treatment policy support, responses to foodborne outbreaks, canine rabies vaccination efforts, epidemic preparedness work, and programs addressing hospital-acquired infections and safe patient care.

The recipient (PAHO) is expected to carry out a broad set of activities that collectively build IHR-aligned capacities across the region. These activities include strengthening national and sub-regional capabilities to detect, verify, assess, and respond to outbreaks and other health emergencies; analyzing regional, national, and local infectious disease resources to identify gaps and opportunities that align with IHR implementation; and partnering with other health organizations, academic institutions, and communities to extend reach and improve coordination. PAHO is also expected to strengthen and enhance infectious disease surveillance systems, and to design and implement projects that improve surveillance, response, prevention, and control in measurable ways. Importantly, the program is not limited to surveillance alone; it also includes strengthening safe patient care and clinical management, including developing and implementing national policies, guidelines, and tools that improve patient safety, followed by monitoring compliance with those policies and guidelines.

Monitoring, evaluation, and communication are treated as core requirements rather than optional add-ons. PAHO is expected to monitor and evaluate overall program performance as well as the progress of individual projects, disseminate program information and data, submit progress reports, and publish and share findings, evaluations, and lessons learned. The overall measurable outcomes are tied to NCEZID's broader performance goal of protecting Americans from infectious diseases, reflecting the idea that improving detection and response capacity in the Americas is directly connected to reducing cross-border risk and strengthening regional health security.

Because this is a cooperative agreement rather than a standard grant, CDC is expected to be substantially involved in implementation beyond routine oversight. CDC's roles include helping analyze and interpret data generated through surveillance and response projects, providing training and technical support, and connecting PAHO and participating countries to CDC subject matter expertise. This can include sharing training materials, providing specialized laboratory reagents when needed, participating in country or project assessment teams, and offering technical assistance to help design performance measures and evaluate project effectiveness. CDC also participates in dissemination of information and data, reinforcing the expectation that results and lessons learned are shared and used to improve regional practice.

Administratively, the opportunity was posted in March 2018 with an application due date in May 2018, anticipated as a single award. The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, the activity category is health, and the CFDA number listed is 93.099. The announcement notes an award ceiling of 0 in the posted summary, which typically signals that the ceiling is not stated in that field rather than implying no funding, and applicants would normally confirm actual budget expectations in the full funding notice. Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a regional capacity-building and network-strengthening effort designed to harden the Americas against emerging infectious disease threats by aligning surveillance, laboratories, policy, clinical safety, and coordinated response with IHR expectations, using PAHO as the central convening and implementation partner with CDC providing technical partnership throughout.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control - NCEZID in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Building Capacity and Networks to Address Emerging Infectious Diseases in the Americas" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.099.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 09, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 09, 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.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for CDC RFA CK18 1801

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