Strengthening Laboratory Capacity, Access and Quality Assurance in the Republic of Zimbabwe under the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) | CDC RFA GH17 1752

Opportunity Information: Apply for CDC RFA GH17 1752

The grant opportunity titled "Strengthening Laboratory Capacity, Access and Quality Assurance in the Republic of Zimbabwe under the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)" is a U.S. government funding announcement focused on improving HIV-related laboratory services in Zimbabwe, particularly for people receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) through the national program. The core purpose is to expand and strengthen laboratory capacity so that more patients can access viral load testing and other key laboratory monitoring tests, and so that results are consistently accurate, reliable, and timely. This effort is positioned as part of PEPFAR Zimbabwe's broader support to the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Care (MOHCC), with activities intended to align with national priorities for HIV treatment monitoring and laboratory system strengthening.

The opportunity was issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Center for Global Health (Agency: Centers for Disease Control - CGH), and is listed as a discretionary funding opportunity. The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which usually means the CDC anticipates substantial involvement in the project, such as collaboration on technical direction, monitoring, and alignment with program goals. The funding activity category is health, and the CFDA number associated with the announcement is 93.067. The funding opportunity number is CDC RFA GH17 1752, and it was created on 2016-08-24 with an original closing date of 2016-10-23.

In practical terms, the grant targets two connected areas. First, it aims to increase access to viral load testing and other laboratory monitoring services for patients enrolled in the Zimbabwe National ART program. Viral load testing is a central tool in HIV treatment programs because it helps determine whether ART is successfully suppressing the virus, identifies possible treatment failure earlier, and supports timely clinical decisions such as adherence interventions or regimen changes. By emphasizing access, the announcement signals a focus on scaling services so more people can be tested, which often involves strengthening testing networks, improving sample referral and result return systems, ensuring equipment functionality, and building the workforce needed to support higher testing volumes.

Second, the grant emphasizes improving quality management systems in participating laboratories to ensure that laboratory results are dependable. Quality management systems typically cover the full testing pathway, including standard operating procedures, staff competency and training, equipment calibration and maintenance, supply chain and inventory controls, internal quality control practices, external quality assessment participation, documentation, corrective and preventive actions, and routine audits. By calling out quality assurance and quality management systems, the announcement is making clear that simply expanding testing is not enough; results must also meet quality standards so clinicians and programs can trust them for patient care and national reporting.

Eligibility for applicants is described as unrestricted, meaning there are no special limitations stated in the source data on who may apply, beyond standard federal eligibility requirements tied to the announcement. The expected number of awards is one, suggesting CDC intended to fund a single lead implementing partner to coordinate and deliver the work, potentially in collaboration with MOHCC and other stakeholders. The award ceiling listed is $2,500,000, which is the maximum amount anticipated for the award under this announcement.

Overall, the opportunity is a focused investment in Zimbabwe's HIV laboratory system under PEPFAR, designed to improve both coverage (more patients receiving viral load and related monitoring tests) and quality (stronger laboratory quality systems that produce accurate, consistent results). The work is explicitly framed as supporting MOHCC, indicating an emphasis on strengthening national systems and ensuring the improvements integrate with Zimbabwe's public health infrastructure rather than operating as a standalone, parallel service.

• The Centers for Disease Control - CGH in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Strengthening Laboratory Capacity, Access and Quality Assurance in the Republic of Zimbabwe 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 2016-08-24.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2016-10-23. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

Apply for CDC RFA GH17 1752

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