Strengthening National Epidemiologic and Research Capacity to Track the HIV/TB Epidemic and Improve Health Outcomes in the Kingdom of Eswatini under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) | CDC RFA GH20 2025

Opportunity Information: Apply for CDC RFA GH20 2025

This CDC cooperative agreement funding opportunity (CDC RFA GH20-2025) under PEPFAR is designed to strengthen Eswatini's national epidemiologic and research-related capacity to better track the intertwined HIV and TB epidemics and use higher-quality data to improve health outcomes. The program is structured around building and institutionalizing core public health functions inside key government bodies, with implementation routed through the Ministry of Health (MOH), the Central Statistics Office (CSO), and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA). The overall intent is to improve how HIV/TB information is collected, linked, analyzed, and used for action, so that prevention and treatment programs can be targeted more precisely and monitored more reliably over time.

Funding is described as an anticipated total of approximately USD 5,000,000 for Year 1, contingent on the availability of funds, with an expected single award. Notably, the notice lists an "Award Ceiling for Year 1" as 0 (none), which typically signals that CDC did not set a formal upper limit in the announcement text rather than implying no funding will be provided. The award mechanism is a cooperative agreement, meaning CDC expects substantial involvement in the workplan through collaboration, technical input, and ongoing performance monitoring. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted (open to any type of entity), subject to any further clarifications in the full notice. The opportunity falls under CFDA 93.067 and was issued by the HHS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Center for Global Health (CGH), with the original closing date of March 7, 2020.

The first strategy centers on strengthening HIV and TB surveillance systems, including HIV case-based surveillance. The emphasis is on capacity building within the MOH Epidemiology and Disease Control Unit (EDCU), which is positioned as the main technical home for surveillance improvements. In practical terms, this strategy is about making routine surveillance more complete and timely, improving data quality and standardization, and ensuring surveillance outputs can be translated into program decisions. A key expected outcome is increased ability to implement and sustain HIV/TB surveillance systems, including more rapid HIV recent infection testing and better identification of people recently infected with HIV. That recent infection information is intended to support targeted testing and prevention efforts, both geographically (focusing on hotspots) and among specific subpopulations where transmission risk is concentrated.

The second strategy focuses on strengthening health research capacity and population-based HIV impact assessments (PHIA) by building the capabilities of the MOH Health Research Unit (HRU). The aim is not to fund new research studies directly, but to strengthen the systems, skills, and governance structures that make high-quality research and large-scale assessments possible and ethically sound. This includes support to improve protocol review and study monitoring through the National Health Research Review Board (NHRRB), reinforcing ethical oversight, compliance, and accountability. Within this strategy, an important expected result is improved national capacity to implement population-based HIV surveys such as PHIA, which are critical for estimating incidence, prevalence, treatment coverage, viral suppression, and other key epidemic control metrics.

The third strategy targets the reporting and practical use of vital statistics through interoperable data systems, working across MOH, CSO, and MOHA. This component is about strengthening civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) functions and ensuring that birth, death, and related registration data can be collected, managed, and shared responsibly across systems that need them. Interoperability is central here: rather than siloed datasets, the goal is connected systems that support more reliable reporting, reduce duplication, and make it easier for decision-makers to access and use timely information. Expected outcomes include improved access to and use of HIV/TB data to guide program interventions, alongside improved capacity to collect and manage civil registration data, which supports more accurate population denominators and mortality measurement and helps anchor epidemic metrics in real-world demographic trends.

Taken together, the opportunity is less about delivering direct clinical services and more about strengthening the backbone of national data and evidence systems: surveillance, survey readiness, research governance, and vital statistics infrastructure. The theory of change is straightforward: when Eswatini has stronger institutional capacity to produce high-quality, linked, and timely data on HIV and TB, the national response can identify gaps faster, target prevention and testing more effectively (including through recent infection insights), monitor outcomes more credibly, and ultimately improve population health results through better-informed policy and program choices.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control - CGH in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Strengthening National Epidemiologic and Research Capacity to Track the HIV/TB Epidemic and Improve Health Outcomes in the Kingdom of Eswatini 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 Jan 07, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 07, 2020 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: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for CDC RFA GH20 2025

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: