[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 140 (Friday, July 20, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37973-37974]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-18157]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Program Announcement 01166]


Division of International Health/Global AIDS Program; 
Strengthening Masters of Public Health Program in Zimbabwe; Notice of 
Availability of Funds

A. Purpose

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the 
availability of fiscal year (FY) 2001 funds for a cooperative agreement 
program with the University of Zimbabwe, Department of Community 
Medicine (UZ/DCM) to strengthen the Masters of Public Health (MPH) 
Program and to mobilize MPH faculty and students to more 
comprehensively address the HIV/AIDS (Human Immunodeficiency Virus/
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) epidemic in Zimbabwe. This program 
addresses the ``Healthy People 2010'' focus area Public Health 
Infrastructure.
    The objectives of this program are: (1) Development and 
implementation of a plan to increase capacity to train applied 
epidemiologists in MPH and related programs, and (2) to create a focus 
for monitoring and evaluation of response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic 
within the University, and to increase the quality and quantity of 
teaching, program evaluation projects and support services to the 
Ministry of Health and Child Welfare (MOHCW) and the National AIDS 
Council (NAC), and related HIV/AIDS initiatives within the University. 
The objectives are intended to be mutually reinforcing, with the 
resources allocated for HIV/AIDS monitoring and evaluation efforts 
providing training and related professional opportunities for students 
and faculty, and the expanded student and faculty base contributing to 
the expanded human resources needed for an effective response to HIV/
AIDS in Zimbabwe and in the region.
    The increased capacity of the MPH training program would enhance 
the Zimbabwe-CDC (ZimCDC) AIDS Project's vision of ``Capacity building 
and technology transfer focused on public sector human resources'' and 
the Division of International Health/EPO's mission of ``Working with 
partners to strengthen capacity of countries around the world to 
improve public health''. This would be accomplished through a 
collaborative project between the ZimCDC, the UZ/DCM, and the Division 
of International Health (DIH), Epidemiology Program Office. The UZ MPH 
Program will be a cornerstone of the capacity building vision in the 
region. Through a cooperative agreement, CDC will provide core support 
to the UZ/DCM to increase the size of the training program in applied 
epidemiology and management for national personnel, and support related 
measures to simultaneously train district level personnel. CDC will 
also provide core support to an UZ/DCM-based Center for Monitoring and 
Evaluating the Response to HIV/AIDS.

B. Eligible Applicants

    Assistance will be provided only to the University of Zimbabwe, 
with the assistance targeted to the University's School of Medicine, 
Department of Community Medicine. No other applications are solicited.
    The UZ/DCM MPH program is an applied epidemiology training program 
founded in 1993 through a collaborative effort between the MOHCW and 
the UZ/DCM. Currently, with 10 trainees per

[[Page 37974]]

year, the program is supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and the 
MOHCW. In the eight years of its operation, the MPH program has trained 
approximately 40 personnel and currently has 15 trainees in their two-
year course. It has recently been tasked to train up to 300 district 
health team members in health information for district management over 
2 years leading to a Certificate in Health Information for District 
Management (CHIDM).
    The UZ/DCM MPH program is the only MPH program in the country. The 
purpose of this agreement is to build upon the success of the program 
and allow it to expand without compromising the quality of the 
training.
    There is urgency to putting this award in place. Zimbabwe is among 
the countries in the world most affected by HIV/AIDS: HIV prevalence is 
estimated to be at least 27 percent, there has been 10-fold increase in 
the number of TB cases, and up to 35 percent of the children may be 
orphaned by AIDS at the end of this decade. At the same time, the 
public health response to the epidemic in Zimbabwe is inadequate due in 
part to insufficient manpower in the Zimbabwe public health system. 
This training program will enable Zimbabwe to develop and place 
epidemiologists who are better equipped to address epidemics.

C. Availability of Funds

    Approximately $500,000 is available in FY 2001 to fund one award. 
It is expected that this level of funding will be available each year. 
It is expected that the awards will begin on or about September 2001 
and will be made for a 12-month budget period within a project period 
of up to three years. Funding estimates may change, based on 
performance and the availability of funds.
    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.

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 Click on ``Funding'' then ``Grants 
and Cooperative Agreements.''To obtain additional business management 
information, contact:Mattie Jackson, Grants Management 
Specialist,Grants Management Branch,Procurement and Grants Office, 2920 
Brandywine Road, Room 3000,Atlanta, GA 30341-4146,Telephone: (770) 488-
2696,Email: [email protected].
    For program technical assistance, contact:

Dr. Peter Nsuguba, Epidemiologist,Epidemiology Program Office,Division 
of International Health,Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
2877 Brandywine Road, Room 4507,Atlanta, GA 30314-4146,Telephone: (770) 
488-8334,Email: [email protected]
        or
Mark Fussell,Zimbabwe-CDC AIDS Project Team, 38 Samora Machel Avenue, 
2nd Floor,Harare, Zimbabwe,Office: 263-11-613194,Email: 
[email protected].

    Dated: July 16, 2001.
John L. Williams,
Director, Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention (CDC)
[FR Doc. 01-18157 Filed 7-19-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P