[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 202 (Friday, October 18, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64381-64382]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-26535]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Program Announcement 02181]


Support for the National Laboratory for HIV/AIDS Reference & 
Quality Assurance in the Republic of Uganda; Notice of Award of Funds

A. Purpose

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the 
availability of fiscal year (FY) 2002 funds for a cooperative agreement 
program to develop and support the National HIV/AIDS Reference 
Laboratory (HRL) in Uganda.
    The overall aim of this program is to strengthen laboratory 
capacity across the country by assuring the accuracy of HIV testing at 
blood banks and at laboratories carrying out national sentinel 
surveillance, HIV-related research and those supporting Voluntary 
Counseling and Testing (VCT) and Prevention of Mother-To-Child 
Transmission (PMTCT) services.
    The United States Government seeks to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS 
in specific countries within sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Americas. 
CDC has initiated its Global AIDS Program (GAP) to strengthen capacity 
and expand activities in the areas of (1) HIV primary prevention, (2) 
HIV care, support and treatment and (3) capacity and infrastructure 
development, including surveillance. Targeted countries represent those 
with the most severe epidemics and the highest number of new 
infections. They also represent countries where the potential impact is 
greatest and where United States government agencies are already 
active. Uganda is one of these countries.
    CDC is working in a collaborative manner with national governments 
and other agencies to develop programs of assistance to address the 
HIV/AIDS epidemic in many countries and it currently has an existing 
GAP Program in Uganda. CDC's mission in Uganda is to work with Ugandan 
and international partners in discovering and applying effective 
interventions to prevent HIV infection and associated illness and death 
from AIDS.
    One of the functions of an HRL is to provide quality assurance of 
HIV testing nationwide. In Uganda, HIV testing is carried out to ensure 
the safety of the blood supply, to support national sentinel 
surveillance and specific research projects and in support of voluntary 
counseling and testing (VCT) and prevention of mother-to-child 
transmission (PMTCT) services.
    The purpose of this program is to provide assistance to the 
National HRL in establishing a quality assurance (QA) program for all 
laboratories providing HIV testing services in both the governmental 
and non-governmental sectors.
    VCT services are available at a large number of private and 
government clinics across the country and PMTCT services are expected 
to increase dramatically in the next few years as drugs to prevent 
mother-to-child transmission become more widely available. Serum-based 
HIV rapid testing is likely to be replaced by finger-stick rapid HIV 
testing at many of the sites providing VCT and PMTCT services 
presenting a new challenge for QA. There is no laboratory accreditation 
scheme in Uganda and the proficiency of many of the laboratories 
providing HIV testing services has not been established. As a 
consequence, users of these services, including policy makers and the 
general public are often not confident of the quality of laboratory 
test results. Currently there is no national QA scheme for rapid HIV 
testing and this program is intended to address this situation. It is 
expected that the scheme will become a model for other African 
countries as they develop their own HIV testing services in support of 
safe blood, surveillance and VCT and PMTCT programs.
    This program will support both the development of the HRL and the 
implementation of a QA scheme for HIV testing. The development of the 
HRL will likely require; improvements in the physical infrastructure of 
the laboratory including power backup, computers, furnishings and 
fittings; additional equipment to ensure safe-practice and to

[[Page 64382]]

support an expanded range of laboratory assays; recruitment and 
training of staff; development of a laboratory management plan; design 
and implementation of HIV testing algorithms; design of a specimen 
repository policy and the development of a financial management plan. 
The implementation of the QA scheme will require; a census to be 
carried out to identify the potential scope of the scheme; evaluation 
of the performance characteristics of HIV assays and testing 
algorithms; development of QA activities in consultation with 
participating laboratories including training needs assessments and 
implementation of appropriate training programs, tools to evaluate 
laboratory performance, proficiency testing panels, schedule of QA site 
visits and reporting mechanisms.

B. Eligible Applicants

    Assistance will be provided only to the National HRL of the 
Ministry of Health (MOH) of Uganda. No other applications are 
solicited.
    The National HIV Reference Laboratory, being the mandated MOH 
laboratory for HIV reference activities, is the only appropriate and 
qualified laboratory to conduct the specific activities which will 
support the CDC Global AIDS Program's technical assistance to Uganda 
for the following reasons:
    The HRL is uniquely positioned in terms of legal authority, ability 
and credibility with the Ugandan public to provide such services in 
support of communicable disease control and the maintenance of public 
health.
    The HRL has provided limited HIV reference services for many years 
to most of the laboratories carrying out HIV testing in the country. As 
a result, HRL has established excellent working relations with the 
National Blood Bank, the AIDS Information Centre who are the main 
provider of VCT services in the country, the MOH-AIDS Control Program 
which has worked with the HRL in support of sentinel surveillance since 
it's inception in 1987 and with numerous governmental and non-
governmental laboratories in the country.
    This proposal will help strengthen capacity within the existing 
framework of laboratories which are supported by the HRL to perform 
existing and newly-defined functions more effectively.

C. Availability of Funds

    Approximately U.S. $280,000 is available in FY 2002 to fund two 
specific activities within this award as follows:
    1. U.S. $160,000--non-recurrent expenditure for infrastructure 
development including furniture and fittings, equipment and vehicles.
    2. U.S. $120,000--recurrent expenditure for QA activities.
    It is expected that the award will begin on or about August 30, 
2002 and will be made for a 12-month budget period within a project 
period of three (3) years. Annual 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.
    All requests for funds, including the budget contained in the 
application, shall be stated in U.S. dollars. Once an award is made, 
the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) will not compensate 
foreign grantees for currency exchange fluctuations through the 
issuance of supplemental awards.

Use of Funds

    Funds may only be utilized at the National HIV Reference Laboratory 
for QA of HIV testing as described in the goals, objectives, and 
activities of the submitted and funded plan.
    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).
    The costs that are generally allowable in grants to domestic 
organizations are likewise allowable to foreign institutions and 
international organizations, with the following exceptions:
    Indirect Costs: With the exception of the American University, 
Beirut, the Gorgas Memorial Institute, and the World Health 
Organization, indirect costs will not be paid (either directly or 
through a sub-award) to organizations located outside the territorial 
limits of the United States or to international organizations 
regardless of their location.
    The purchase of antiretrovirals, reagents, and laboratory equipment 
for antiretroviral treatment projects requires pre-approval from the 
Global AIDS Program headquarters.
    No funds appropriated under this Act shall be used to carry out any 
program of distributing sterile needles or syringes for the hypodermic 
injection of any illegal drug.

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 business management technical assistance, contact: 
Cynthia Collins, Grants Management Specialist, Grants Management 
Branch, Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, 2920 Brandywine Road, Room 3000, Atlanta, GA 30341-4146. 
Telephone: (770) 488-2757. E-mail: [email protected].
    For program technical assistance, contact: Jonathan Mermin, MD, 
MPH, Global Aids Program [GAP], Uganda Country Team, National Center 
for HIV, STD and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention [CDC], PO Box 49, Entebbe, Uganda. Telephone: +256-
410320776. E-mail: [email protected].

    Dated: October 9, 2002.
Edward J. Schultz,
Deputy Director, Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 02-26535 Filed 10-17-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P