Enhanced Systems Strengthening Interventions for Sustainable Laboratory Services Delivery for HIV, TB and Other Diseases of Public Health Importance in Nigeria under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) | CDC RFA GH22 2233

Opportunity Information: Apply for CDC RFA GH22 2233

This funding opportunity (CDC RFA GH22 2233) is a CDC cooperative agreement under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, aligned with the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). It focuses on strengthening Nigeria's national laboratory system so high-quality testing and related laboratory services for HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and other high-priority public health diseases are more accessible, more reliable, and sustainable over time. The overall intent is to make Nigeria's public health laboratory network more resilient and better able to support routine patient care as well as broader public health needs like disease detection, outbreak response, and ongoing surveillance.

For funding, CDC projected an approximate total of USD 10,000,000 available for the first year, depending on funding availability, with an expectation of making two awards. The notice lists an award ceiling of 0 for Year 1, which generally means no fixed maximum amount per individual award was specified in the announcement (rather than meaning no funding is available). Applications were open broadly to unrestricted applicant types, with any limits depending on additional eligibility details in the full notice. The original application deadline was February 28, 2022, with electronic submissions due by 11:59 pm Eastern Time.

Programmatically, the grant is built around broad-based Laboratory Systems Strengthening (LSS) across Nigeria, not just support to individual labs in isolation. A major emphasis is strategic optimization of the laboratory network so testing services are delivered efficiently and at scale. Priority HIV laboratory services include HIV viral load testing, infant virological testing/early infant diagnosis (IVT/EID), and HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) testing. The scope also explicitly includes strengthening TB laboratory services and capacity for other diseases of public health importance, with the goal of building an integrated system that can serve multiple disease programs rather than operating in separate silos.

A large part of the work described centers on improving the enabling systems that keep laboratories functioning well day to day. This includes strengthening quality management systems (QMS) so testing is accurate, standardized, and dependable across the network, and improving the commodities and supply chain systems that ensure reagents, consumables, and other critical inputs are consistently available. The opportunity also highlights better management of laboratory equipment, which typically involves the full equipment lifecycle: selection and placement, installation and validation, maintenance and service contracts, calibration, repairs, and planning for replacement so service interruptions are minimized. In addition, the NOFO calls for stronger biosafety and biosecurity practices, reflecting the need to protect staff and communities while also preventing loss, misuse, or unsafe handling of infectious materials.

Beyond routine diagnostic services, the grant is meant to increase Nigeria's capacity for integrated disease surveillance (IDS) and for using laboratory data more effectively. That includes targeted capacity building so laboratory-generated data can be used not only to guide patient care decisions (for example, treatment monitoring or rapid identification of drug resistance) but also to support public health decisions such as identifying hotspots, detecting unusual patterns that may signal outbreaks, and tracking progress over time. The overall idea is to make laboratory information a more actionable part of the national health system, supporting both clinical and public health response functions.

The notice also stresses program management and sustainability, which is especially important for a nationwide systems-strengthening award. It anticipates capacity building for program management and deliberate steps to increase leadership, ownership, and accountability by host facilities and local institutions. Coordination is another key theme: the award is intended to facilitate collaboration with multilateral and bilateral donors to align investments, avoid duplication, and create consistent quality oversight across partners supporting laboratory systems in Nigeria. The cooperative agreement structure also implies substantial engagement with CDC for technical assistance, coordination, and oversight to ensure investments are high-impact and contribute to longer-term sustainability rather than short-term gains.

Finally, the opportunity is framed around measurable epidemic-control outcomes. By improving and stabilizing access to essential HIV and TB laboratory services and strengthening the broader laboratory network, these investments are positioned to support PEPFAR Nigeria's epidemic control efforts and to help advance the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets by ensuring people can be diagnosed, started on treatment, and monitored effectively through reliable laboratory testing and timely use of results.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control - CGH in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Enhanced Systems Strengthening Interventions for Sustainable Laboratory Services Delivery for HIV, TB and Other Diseases of Public Health Importance in Nigeria under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.067.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 29, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Feb 28, 2022 Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 1159 pm 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 2 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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