[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 142 (Monday, July 24, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45604-45605]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-18595]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICE

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Program Announcement 00139]


HIV/AIDS Prevention Program Development and Technical Assistance 
Collaboration for Public Health Laboratory Science With Countries 
Targeted by the Leadership and Investment in Fighting the Epidemic 
(LIFE) Initiative; Notice of Availability of Funds

A. Purpose

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the 
availability of fiscal year (FY) 2000 funds for a cooperative agreement 
program for HIV/AIDS Prevention Program Development and Technical 
Assistance Collaboration with Countries Targeted by the LIFE 
(Leadership and Investment in Fighting an Epidemic) Initiative.
    In July 1999, the United States (U.S.) Government announced the 
LIFE Initiative to address the global AIDS pandemic. The LIFE 
initiative, an effort to expand and intensify the global response to 
the growing AIDS pandemic and its serious impact, is part of the U.S. 
Government's participation in the International Partnership Against 
HIV/AIDS in Africa (IPAA). A central feature of the LIFE Initiative is 
a $100 million increase in US support for sub-Saharan African countries 
and India, which are working to prevent the further spread of HIV and 
to care for those affected by this devastating disease. This additional 
funding is a critical step by the U.S. Government in recognizing the 
impact that AIDS continues to have on individuals, families, 
communities and nations responding to the imperative to do more. The 
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its agency the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is administering $35 
million of the $100 million allocated to the LIFE Initiative by 
Congress in November 1999.
    The purpose of the program is to support HIV/AIDS prevention 
program development and technical assistance for countries designated 
as LIFE countries by the United States Congress. At present, those 
countries are Botswana, Cote D'Ivoire, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, 
Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Nigeria, 
Senegal, Zambia and India. The countries targeted represent those with 
the most severe epidemic and the highest number of new infections. They 
also represent countries where the potential for impact is greatest and 
where U.S. government agencies are already active.
    The goals of this program are to address and support three program 
elements of the LIFE initiative: Primary Prevention, Capacity and 
Infrastructure Development, and Community and Home-Based Care and 
Treatment. This program announcement calls for the delivery of HIV/AIDS 
prevention program development and technical assistance to the LIFE 
countries through a variety of recipient activities. The result will be 
enhancement of the skills of officials from LIFE country national AIDS 
control programs in strategic planning, implementation, evaluation, and 
communication relating to HIV/AIDS prevention and care programs.

B. Eligible Applicants

    Assistance will be provided only to the Association of Public 
Health Laboratories (APHL) for this project. No other applications are 
solicited or will be accepted. APHL is the appropriate and only 
qualified agency to provide the services specified under this 
cooperative agreement because:
    1. APHL is the only officially established organization that 
represents public health laboratory science practitioners. As such, 
APHL represents officials from throughout the U.S. who have 
responsibility for all aspects of public health laboratory science 
practice, education and management to ensure excellent, accessible 
cost-effective laboratory services for the consumers of health care.
    2. This places APHL in a unique position to act as a liaison 
between state and territorial public health laboratorians and LIFE 
country public health officials. In addition, the same set of 
knowledge, skills, and abilities APHL represents (through its members' 
expertise) are of critical importance in improving the capacity of 
public health

[[Page 45605]]

laboratories in African countries and India.
    3. Health threats such as HIV are not confined by geographic 
boundaries. APHL was formed to promote coordination of HIV/AIDS public 
health laboratory efforts among the States and territories. The 
organization is uniquely positioned to collaborate not only with 
national organizations, including Federal agencies, but also with 
national AIDS control program officials in the LIFE countries, on 
policy and program issues from a U.S.-government model, multi-state 
perspective. In this collaboration APHL is positioned to monitor, 
assess, and improve HIV/AIDS-related laboratory design, implementation, 
and evaluation in the LIFE countries.
    4. APHL is uniquely qualified to assure the provision of technical 
assistance to public health laboratories domestically; therefore, APHL 
is uniquely positioned to provide CDC technical assistance by serving 
as a liaison between State and territorial public health laboratory 
officials and officials of national AIDS control programs in the LIFE 
countries. In the U.S., APHL coordinates the efforts of HIV/AIDS public 
health laboratory directors, who work together with CDC to monitor the 
public health laboratories across States and territories, share 
successes and challenges, monitor issues and obstacles to 
implementation of effective interventions, provide technical assistance 
and consult with CDC, one another, and other governmental and non-
governmental prevention partners on these issues. Therefore APHL 
possesses unique knowledge and insight that can be applied to the LIFE 
initiative through the provision of technical assistance aimed at 
strengthening the ability of national AIDS control programs to design, 
develop, implement, and maintain HIV/AIDS public health laboratories 
based on the best practices of U.S. state and territory programs.
    5. It is critical that APHL conducts these services since it 
represents the HIV/AIDS public health laboratory directors who oversee 
and deliver HIV testing analysis. Since APHL represents the HIV/AIDS 
public health laboratory directors who have responsibility for HIV 
testing analysis within their jurisdictions, it is the only 
organization that can work collaboratively with individual AIDS 
Directors to provide multi-jurisdiction perspectives and translate 
knowledge, skills, and abilities to national AIDS control program 
officials in the LIFE countries.
    6. APHL has already established mechanisms for communicating HIV/
AIDS laboratory practice information to the States and the political 
subdivisions of the States that carry out the Nation's HIV/AIDS public 
health laboratory programs. They can use these mechanisms to exchange 
information between the States and public health officials in the LIFE 
countries to identify and develop effective public health laboratory 
information networks and dissemination systems. Because of their 
experience and established communications mechanisms, APHL is in a 
unique position to assist national AIDS control program officials with 
the dissemination of HIV/AIDS laboratory practice information within 
their respective country settings.

C. Availability of Funds

    Approximately $500,000 is available in FY 2000 to support this 
award. It is expected that the award will begin on or about September 
30, 2000 and will be made for a 12-month budget period within a project 
period of up to 3 years. Funding estimates may change.
    Continuation awards within an approved project period will be made 
on the basis of satisfactory progress as evidenced by required reports 
and the availability of funds.

Use of Funds

    Funds received from this announcement will not be used for the 
purchase of antiretroviral drugs for treatment of established HIV 
infection, occupational exposures, and non-occupational exposures and 
will not be used for the purchase of machines and reagents to conduct 
the necessary laboratory monitoring for patient care.
    Applicants may contract with other organizations under these 
cooperative agreements. However, applicants must perform a substantial 
portion of the activities (including program management and operations 
and delivery of prevention services for which funds are requested.) 
Peer-to-peer training, technical assistance, and other activities 
(including but not limited to those described below under Program 
Requirements--Recipient Activities) conducted outside the U.S. by 
persons under this award are limited to forty-five (45) days per person 
per year.

D. Where To Obtain Additional Information

    This and other CDC announcements can be found on the CDC home page 
Internet address--http://www.cdc.gov. Scroll down the page, then click 
on ``Funding'' then ``Grants and Cooperative Agreements.''
    If you have questions after reviewing the contents of all the 
documents, business management technical assistance may be obtained 
from: Dorimar Rosado, Grants Management Specialist, Grants Management 
Branch, Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC), 2920 Brandywine Road, Room 3000, MailStop E-15, 
Atlanta, GA 30341-4146; Telephone (770) 488-2736; E-mail address: 
[email protected].
    Programmatic technical information may be obtained from: Leo 
Weakland, Deputy Coordinator, Global AIDS Activity (GAA), National 
Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC), 1600 Clifton Road, M/S E-07, Atlanta, GA30333; 
Telephone number (404) 639-8906; E-mail address: [email protected].

    Dated: July 18, 2000.
John L. Williams,
Director, Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention (CDC).
[FR Doc. 00-18595 Filed 7-21-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P