Support for laboratory diagnosis and monitoring to scale up and improve HIV/AIDS care and treatment services for Caribbean countries supported under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) | CDC RFA JG 25 0065

Opportunity Information: Apply for CDC RFA JG 25 0065

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), through its Global Health Center and under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), is soliciting applications for a cooperative agreement to strengthen laboratory diagnosis and monitoring systems that support HIV/AIDS care and treatment across PEPFAR-supported Caribbean countries. The core idea behind the opportunity is that strong, reliable laboratory services are not optional add-ons in HIV and TB programs; they are the backbone of timely diagnosis, clinical monitoring, and treatment scale-up. Without consistent access to high-quality testing, countries struggle to identify new infections quickly, monitor treatment effectiveness, detect drug resistance or treatment failure, and manage related conditions like TB, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and opportunistic infections.

This funding announcement builds on years of CDC technical assistance in the Caribbean, where prior efforts helped expand laboratory capacity, train personnel, and achieve accreditation for twelve public health laboratories. Even with those gains, CDC is signaling that laboratory systems in the region still face persistent challenges around efficiency and long-term sustainability. The grant is intended to push the region from pockets of progress toward more durable, standardized laboratory networks that can deliver faster turnaround times, dependable quality systems, and better integration with broader health services. Lessons learned from collaboration with the Ministries of Health in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago are specifically referenced as informing the approach, suggesting the next phase will emphasize practical, implementable improvements rather than starting from scratch.

The opportunity highlights several priority areas. A major focus is supporting public health laboratory accreditation across the region, which typically involves strengthening quality management systems, standard operating procedures, proficiency testing, biosafety practices, and documentation needed to meet recognized standards. Another priority is workforce development through in-service training, aimed at improving day-to-day competency in areas such as molecular testing workflows, quality assurance, equipment maintenance, specimen management, and supervisory skills that keep systems running after external support decreases. CDC also emphasizes expansion and integration of laboratory information systems, with the goal of improving data flow from testing sites to laboratories and onward into national health information systems. This is meant to reduce delays, minimize errors from manual reporting, strengthen patient tracking and follow-up, and improve program-level visibility into testing coverage and outcomes.

On the technical side, the NOFO calls for strengthening HIV/TB-related testing and diagnostic capacity, including for opportunistic infections. In practice, this points to improving the ability of laboratories to support the clinical needs of people living with HIV, including diagnosing TB and other infections that drive morbidity and mortality when patients present late or have advanced disease. It also points to building more efficient laboratory programs overall so they can better support HIV diagnostic and monitoring services at scale, which can include improving sample referral systems between islands or districts, optimizing test menus and platforms, reducing downtime through better supply chain and maintenance planning, and standardizing quality monitoring across networks.

Structurally, this is a discretionary funding opportunity using a cooperative agreement, meaning CDC expects to have substantial involvement beyond issuing funds, often through ongoing technical collaboration, shared planning, performance monitoring, and program guidance. The CFDA number associated with the opportunity is 93.067, and the activity category is Health. The funding details provided indicate an approximate total of $1,500,000 anticipated for the first fiscal year, contingent on available funds, with one expected award. Notably, the listed award ceiling for Year 1 is shown as $0, which is typically a posting artifact or administrative field rather than a statement that no funds will be awarded, especially since the notice separately states CDC anticipates $1.5 million in Year 1 total funding.

Eligibility is broad and includes federal recognized tribal governments and tribal organizations, state and local governments, special districts, public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status, for-profit organizations (including other than small businesses), small businesses, and unrestricted applicants. The opportunity number is CDC RFA JG 25 0065, and the original application closing date is listed as 2025-02-18, with a creation date of 2024-12-02. Overall, the grant is designed to help Caribbean PEPFAR-supported countries move toward faster, higher-quality, and more sustainable laboratory services that directly improve HIV treatment outcomes and strengthen related TB and STI diagnostic systems.

• The Centers for Disease Control-GHC in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Support for laboratory diagnosis and monitoring to scale up and improve HIV/AIDS care and treatment services for Caribbean countries supported 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 2024-12-02.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-18. (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: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Unrestricted.

Apply for CDC RFA JG 25 0065

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