Opportunity Information: Apply for CDC RFA GH15 1607
Apply for CDC RFA GH15 1607
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Strengthening a Regional Public Health Surveillance, Capacity and Laboratory Network for Central America with the Secretaria General del Sistema de la Integracion Centroamericana (SG SICA) / Consejo de Ministros de Salud de Centroamerica (COMISCA)" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.283 Centers for Disease Control and PreventionInvestigations and Technical Assistance.
- This funding opportunity was created on Feb 19, 2015 and posted on Feb 19, 2015.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 20, 2015 Electronically submitted applications must be submitted on www.grants.gov no later than 1159 p.m., US Eastern Standard Time, on the listed application due date.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- The funding agency has allocated a total of $10,000,000.00 to eligible and selected applicants.
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,000,000.00 in funding.
- 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).
- Assistance will be provided only to the Secretariacutea General del Sistema de la Integracioacuten Centroamericana (SG SICA) / Consejo de Ministros de Salud de Centroameacuterica (COMISCA). No other applications are solicited. Secretariacutea General del Sistema de la Integracioacuten Centroamericana (SG SICA) / Consejo de Ministros de Salud de Centroameacuterica (COMISCA)Rolando Hernando ArquetaCCD/icddrbBlvd. Orden de Malta Edificio Eben Ezer 4 NivelUrb. Santa Elena, Antiquo Cuscatlan, El Salvador
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Opportunity Summary:
The CDC funding opportunity CDC RFA GH15 1607, titled "Strengthening a Regional Public Health Surveillance, Capacity and Laboratory Network for Central America with the Secretaria General del Sistema de la Integracion Centroamericana (SG SICA) / Consejo de Ministros de Salud de Centroamerica (COMISCA)," was a discretionary cooperative agreement designed to improve how Central American countries work together to detect, track, and respond to public health threats. The award was structured around building regional systems rather than isolated country-by-country projects, with an emphasis on shared tools, shared standards, and coordinated action across borders. It aligns with broader HHS/CDC global health priorities focused on preventing and controlling infectious diseases and strengthening public health capacity as part of protecting health security, including impacts on the United States through global disease transmission pathways.
At the core of the project was the goal of strengthening regional surveillance through the creation and advancement of a shared surveillance information platform. The intent was to enhance ongoing cooperation so that countries in Central America could more consistently collect, manage, share, and use epidemiological data. A regional platform supports faster situational awareness and helps health ministries compare trends, recognize cross-border outbreaks earlier, and coordinate interventions when diseases spread across national lines. This kind of harmonized surveillance also reduces duplication of effort and encourages consistent reporting practices, which is especially valuable when countries vary in their technical resources and workforce capacity.
A second major focus was laboratory strengthening through a regional approach, particularly by organizing networks of reference laboratories. Because some Central American countries are relatively small and may not be able to sustain the full range of specialized testing capacity independently, the opportunity emphasized efficiency gains from shared lab functions and regional referral pathways. A reference laboratory network can standardize testing methods, improve quality assurance, support confirmatory testing, and create clearer routes for specimen transport and results reporting. Over time, this kind of network can raise overall diagnostic capacity across the region, improve outbreak investigation support, and help ensure that public health decisions are based on reliable laboratory evidence.
The opportunity also emphasized developing and implementing regional guidelines, with a specific callout for biosafety. Regional biosafety guidance helps laboratories and field teams manage risks consistently, including safe handling of infectious materials, containment practices, and workforce protection. Alongside biosafety, the project allowed for other regionally appropriate guidelines to be developed, reflecting the idea that shared standards can improve interoperability between countries and support coordinated responses during multi-country events. In parallel, the program sought to strengthen the network of epidemiologists and expand regional epidemiological training, reinforcing the human capacity needed to operate surveillance systems, interpret data, and lead investigations. Training and professional networks can create common approaches to case definitions, outbreak response protocols, and analytic methods, improving the speed and consistency of regional actions.
Another central component was strengthening regional communication and improving the ability of countries to respond in a coordinated manner to epidemiological and public health threats. Communication here includes both routine technical communication among ministries, laboratories, and surveillance units, and crisis communication during outbreaks. Stronger regional communication channels support quicker information sharing, joint risk assessments, and coordinated public messaging when needed. It also supports alignment on response measures such as vaccination strategies, infection control recommendations, and cross-border coordination during events that affect multiple countries at the same time.
Programmatically, the announcement linked this work to several public health domains, including health communication, immunization, infectious diseases, public health infrastructure, respiratory diseases, and sexually transmitted diseases. While the description is broad, the unifying theme is building the infrastructure and collaborative mechanisms that allow countries to prevent and control infectious disease threats more effectively. The cooperative agreement was framed as supporting CDCs global strategy for addressing infectious diseases and the Center for Global Health priority areas, with measurable outcomes expected to align with one or more of those performance goals. The stated priority areas for the agreement included implementing proven disease prevention and control interventions, applying proven public health tools, identifying potential global initiatives for disease control, and advancing public health training and capacity building.
From an administrative standpoint, this was a cooperative agreement (not a standard grant), which typically indicates substantial involvement and technical collaboration by the funding agency during implementation. The estimated total funding listed was 10,000,000, with an award ceiling of 2,000,000 and an award floor of 0, and the forecast expected number of awards was 1. There was no cost sharing or matching requirement. The funding was posted on February 19, 2015, with an application due date of April 20, 2015, submitted electronically through Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, and the opportunity was archived on May 20, 2015.
Eligibility was highly restricted: assistance was to be provided only to SG SICA / COMISCA, and the announcement explicitly stated that no other applications were solicited. In practical terms, this means the opportunity functioned as a directed award to the regional Central American health integration body and its council of health ministers, reflecting the regional scope and the need for an entity positioned to coordinate among multiple national ministries of health. The CDC contact listed for access issues was Bernard Benecke (bxb4@cdc.gov).
FAQs: CDC RFA GH15-1607 (Strengthening a Regional Public Health Surveillance, Capacity and Laboratory Network for Central America with SG SICA / COMISCA)
What is CDC RFA GH15-1607?
CDC RFA GH15-1607 is a CDC discretionary cooperative agreement funding opportunity titled "Strengthening a Regional Public Health Surveillance, Capacity and Laboratory Network for Central America with the Secretaria General del Sistema de la Integracion Centroamericana (SG SICA) / Consejo de Ministros de Salud de Centroamerica (COMISCA)." It was designed to improve how Central American countries work together to detect, track, and respond to public health threats through regional systems and coordinated cross-border action.
What was the main purpose of this opportunity?
The core purpose was to strengthen regional public health capacity in Central America by building shared systems, shared standards, and coordinated mechanisms across countries, rather than creating separate, country-by-country projects. The intent was to support faster detection and better coordinated responses to infectious disease threats that can spread across borders.
Why did the opportunity emphasize a regional approach instead of separate country projects?
The award was structured around building regional systems because outbreaks and other public health threats often cross national boundaries. A regional approach supports harmonized data collection and reporting, shared tools and standards, and coordinated interventions. It can also reduce duplication of work and help address differences in technical resources and workforce capacity between countries.
How does this opportunity relate to U.S. health security?
The announcement aligned with broader HHS/CDC global health priorities focused on preventing and controlling infectious diseases and strengthening public health capacity as part of protecting health security. It explicitly noted the relevance to impacts on the United States through global disease transmission pathways.
What were the key program components described in the opportunity?
The opportunity described several major components: strengthening regional surveillance through a shared information platform, strengthening laboratories through a regional reference laboratory network, developing and implementing regional guidelines (with a specific emphasis on biosafety), strengthening the network of epidemiologists and expanding epidemiological training, and improving regional communication and coordinated response to public health threats.
What did "strengthening regional surveillance" mean in this program?
It meant creating and advancing a shared regional surveillance information platform and enhancing cooperation so countries could more consistently collect, manage, share, and use epidemiological data. The goal was to improve situational awareness, enable earlier recognition of cross-border outbreaks, and support coordinated interventions when diseases spread across national lines.
What benefits were expected from a shared surveillance information platform?
A shared platform was intended to support faster situational awareness, allow health ministries to compare trends more consistently, improve early detection of cross-border outbreaks, reduce duplicated efforts, and encourage more consistent reporting practices across countries with differing levels of technical and workforce capacity.
What did the laboratory strengthening component focus on?
The laboratory component focused on a regional approach, especially organizing networks of reference laboratories. This approach recognized that smaller countries may not be able to sustain a full range of specialized testing capacity independently, and that regional coordination can create efficiency gains and raise overall diagnostic capacity.
What is a regional reference laboratory network in the context of this opportunity?
In this opportunity, a regional reference laboratory network refers to a coordinated set of laboratories that can standardize testing methods, strengthen quality assurance, support confirmatory testing, and establish clearer regional pathways for specimen transport and results reporting.
Why was a regional laboratory network considered important for Central America?
The description highlighted that some Central American countries are relatively small and may not be able to maintain specialized testing on their own. A regional network can share functions, improve consistency and quality, and provide a reliable system for referral and confirmatory testing to support outbreak investigations and evidence-based decisions.
What kinds of guidelines were included in the opportunity?
The opportunity emphasized developing and implementing regional guidelines, with a specific callout for biosafety. It also allowed for other regionally appropriate guidelines, reflecting the broader idea that shared standards improve interoperability and support coordinated multi-country responses.
Why was biosafety specifically called out?
Biosafety guidance was highlighted because consistent regional biosafety practices help laboratories and field teams manage risks safely, including safe handling of infectious materials, appropriate containment practices, and workforce protection.
How did the opportunity address workforce and training needs?
It sought to strengthen the network of epidemiologists and expand regional epidemiological training. This supports the human capacity needed to operate surveillance systems, interpret epidemiological data, and lead investigations, while also promoting common approaches to case definitions, outbreak response protocols, and analytic methods across the region.
What did the opportunity say about regional communication?
Another central component was strengthening regional communication and improving the ability of countries to respond in a coordinated manner to epidemiological and public health threats. This included both routine technical communication among ministries, laboratories, and surveillance units, and crisis communication during outbreaks.
How does stronger regional communication improve outbreak response?
The description indicated that stronger communication channels support quicker information sharing, joint risk assessments, and coordinated public messaging when needed. It also supports alignment on response measures such as vaccination strategies, infection control recommendations, and cross-border coordination during multi-country events.
What public health domains did the announcement link to this work?
The announcement linked the work to multiple public health domains, including health communication, immunization, infectious diseases, public health infrastructure, respiratory diseases, and sexually transmitted diseases. The unifying theme across these areas was building infrastructure and collaborative mechanisms to prevent and control infectious disease threats more effectively.
What CDC strategy or priorities did the opportunity align with?
The cooperative agreement was framed as supporting CDC's global strategy for addressing infectious diseases and the Center for Global Health priority areas, with measurable outcomes expected to align with one or more performance goals.
What were the stated priority areas for the cooperative agreement?
The stated priority areas included implementing proven disease prevention and control interventions, applying proven public health tools, identifying potential global initiatives for disease control, and advancing public health training and capacity building.
What type of funding mechanism was used?
This opportunity was a cooperative agreement, not a standard grant. The description noted that a cooperative agreement typically indicates substantial involvement and technical collaboration by the funding agency during implementation.
How much funding was associated with this opportunity?
The estimated total funding listed was 10,000,000. The award ceiling was 2,000,000, and the award floor was 0. The forecast expected number of awards was 1.
Was there a cost-sharing or matching requirement?
No. The opportunity stated there was no cost sharing or matching requirement.
How many awards were expected to be made?
The forecast expected number of awards was 1.
Who was eligible to apply?
Eligibility was highly restricted. Assistance was to be provided only to SG SICA / COMISCA, and the announcement explicitly stated that no other applications were solicited. Functionally, it operated as a directed award to the regional Central American health integration body and its council of health ministers.
Could other organizations or countries submit an application?
No. The announcement explicitly stated that no other applications were solicited beyond SG SICA / COMISCA.
When was the opportunity posted and when was it due?
The funding was posted on February 19, 2015. The application due date was April 20, 2015.
How was the application supposed to be submitted?
Applications were to be submitted electronically through Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date.
When was the opportunity archived?
The opportunity was archived on May 20, 2015.
Who was the CDC contact for access issues?
The CDC contact listed for access issues was Bernard Benecke (bxb4@cdc.gov).
What does it mean that the award focused on "shared tools" and "shared standards"?
In the context of the description, it means the program prioritized region-wide approaches such as common surveillance systems, harmonized reporting practices, standardized laboratory methods and quality assurance, and regional guidelines (including biosafety) so countries could coordinate more effectively and operate with better interoperability during cross-border events.
What kinds of outcomes were expected?
The announcement indicated that measurable outcomes were expected to align with one or more CDC Center for Global Health performance goals, particularly around proven prevention and control interventions, proven tools, identifying potential initiatives for disease control, and advancing training and capacity building.
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