Strengthening Human Resources for Health and Laboratory Quality Management through Increased Capacity of the Ethiopian Medical Association and Ethiopian Medical Laboratory Association under PEPFAR | CDC RFA GH17 1742

Opportunity Information: Apply for CDC RFA GH17 1742

This funding opportunity, titled "Strengthening Human Resources for Health and Laboratory Quality Management through Increased Capacity of the Ethiopian Medical Association and Ethiopian Medical Laboratory Association under PEPFAR" (Funding Opportunity Number: CDC RFA GH17 1742), is a CDC-led cooperative agreement designed to help Ethiopia strengthen the systems that support high-quality HIV care and long-term HIV epidemic control. The announcement focuses on two closely linked areas: improving continuing medical education (CME) for health workers involved in HIV services, and strengthening laboratory management and quality systems that underpin accurate diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment decisions.

At its core, the FOA aims to make HIV-focused in-service training and CME more institutionalized, consistent, and sustainable at both national and regional levels. Rather than relying on ad hoc trainings, the program emphasizes building durable CME structures that can routinely deliver up-to-date HIV content through both face-to-face instruction and online learning platforms. This includes improving how trainings are designed, delivered, tracked, and updated, so clinicians and other health professionals can maintain competencies aligned with current standards of HIV prevention, care, and treatment. The intent is to ensure that the workforce has ongoing access to relevant, standardized learning opportunities that translate into better clinical practice and stronger patient outcomes.

A major strategy in the FOA is strengthening the capacity of Ethiopian health professional associations, specifically the Ethiopian Medical Association and the Ethiopian Medical Laboratory Association. The opportunity recognizes these associations as key partners that can influence professional practice at scale by setting expectations, convening experts, delivering accredited learning, and supporting professional development pathways. By increasing their institutional capacity, the program seeks to expand their ability to contribute meaningfully to national HIV goals, including improving the quality of HIV services and supporting broader national efforts to achieve and sustain epidemic control.

On the laboratory side, the FOA targets improvements in laboratory management systems and overall laboratory quality management. This includes enhancing medical laboratory research capacity, supporting policy development and implementation, and strengthening processes tied to accreditation and continuous quality improvement. In practical terms, this type of work often involves helping laboratories adopt standardized quality systems, improve supervision and mentorship, strengthen documentation and corrective action processes, and support readiness for accreditation benchmarks. The overarching goal is to ensure laboratory services are reliable and consistently meet quality standards, which is essential for HIV testing, viral load monitoring, and other critical services that guide treatment and public health decision-making.

An important requirement embedded in the opportunity is alignment with Ethiopian national policies and guidelines. All CME, in-service training, and laboratory system strengthening activities are expected to follow the national frameworks endorsed by the Federal Ministry of Health and the Ethiopian Public Health Institute. This emphasis on alignment is meant to reinforce country ownership, avoid parallel systems, and ensure that improvements are integrated into existing national structures and standards.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity using a cooperative agreement mechanism, meaning the CDC is expected to have substantial involvement in the program’s direction, collaboration, and oversight as compared to a more hands-off grant. The eligible applicant category is listed as "Others," and the opportunity was issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Center for Global Health (CFDA/Assistance Listing: 93.067). The award ceiling is $250,000, with one expected award. The original closing date was April 23, 2020, and the opportunity record shows a creation date of August 26, 2016.

Overall, the FOA is structured to strengthen the professional and laboratory systems that directly affect the quality of HIV care in Ethiopia. By investing in sustainable CME infrastructure, empowering key professional associations, and reinforcing laboratory quality management, the opportunity aims to create lasting improvements that support effective HIV service delivery and help maintain progress toward national HIV epidemic control targets.

• The Centers for Disease Control - CGH in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Strengthening Human Resources for Health and Laboratory Quality Management through Increased Capacity of the Ethiopian Medical Association and Ethiopian Medical Laboratory Association under 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 2016-08-26.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-04-23. (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 $250,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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