[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 142 (Thursday, July 24, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43053-43054]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-17456]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Notification of a Single Source Cooperative Agreement Award for 
the Gorgas Memorial Institute

AGENCY: Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the 
Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response

    Authority: Sections 301, 307, 1701, and 2811 of the Public 
Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 241, 242l, 300u and 300hh-10.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Assistant 
Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) intends to provide a 
Single Source Cooperative Agreement Award to the Gorgas Memorial 
Institute (GMI) in Panama. The Cooperative Agreement will support 
enhancement of global and regional health security through enhanced 
implementation of International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) in 
Panama. ASPR, in close coordination with the HHS Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention (CDC) and other U.S. Government (USG) 
stakeholders, will collaborate with the GMI to sustain and strengthen 
preparedness, detection, and communication capacities for pandemic 
influenza and other emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases in 
Panama and its area of influence in Central America and the Caribbean. 
Recognizing that the health security of the American people is 
intrinsically linked to the world's health security, and that 
international cooperation is critical to enhance global health 
security, this program is aligned with Article 44 of the IHR (2005), 
which directs State Parties to collaborate to detect, assess, and 
respond to events while developing, strengthening, and maintaining core 
public health surveillance and response capacities.

DATES: The period of performance is from September 30, 2014 to 
September 29, 2017.
    Award Amount: Estimate $300,000-$350,000.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Division of International Health 
Security in the Office of Policy and Planning is the program office for 
this award.
    Single Source Justification: GMI is Panama's national public health 
laboratory and the only advanced biomedical research institute in 
Central America. In addition to serving as both a national and regional 
reference laboratory, it also serves as a focal point for infectious 
disease studies in Central America and the Caribbean. Justification of 
GMI as the sole partner to support this program is based upon three 
major elements: (1) GMI's unique, in-country capabilities and 
capacities; (2) GMI's network of partners in the region; and (3) GMI's 
past achievements and excellent performance during previous 
collaborations (detailed below). Thus, GMI is the only public health 
laboratory in the entire region with capacity to rapidly execute HHS's 
proposed program in Panama and neighboring countries.
    GMI, a public health institution within Panama's Ministry of 
Health, provides evidence-based guidance for Panama's national public 
health policy and has a well-established commitment to national and 
regional biomedical research. Created in 1928 and named after General 
William Crawford Gorgas, a U.S. Army physician who led control efforts 
for yellow fever, malaria, and other diseases during the building of 
the Panama Canal, GMI was funded primarily by the USG from 1928 until 
1991. Regionally, GMI has the most advanced diagnostic and research 
laboratory, with capabilities in virology, parasitology, genomics, 
entomology, tropical diseases, and food and water chemistry. It 
contributes greatly to the protection and improvement of Panamanian and 
Central American health by serving as a national public health 
reference laboratory to diagnose influenza, yellow fever, malaria, 
measles, tuberculosis, arbovirus febrile illness, viral encephalitis, 
dengue, Hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome, and other endemic viral 
and bacterial diseases. Most recently, GMI was established as a World 
Bank/Pan-American Health Organization reference laboratory for human 
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) for the entire Central American region.
    ASPR's past partnership with GMI, beginning with a cooperative 
agreement in 2006, resulted in numerous health security accomplishments 
and has greatly strengthened U.S.-Panama relations. With support from 
ASPR, syndromic and laboratory surveillance for influenza have been 
fully integrated into Panama's national public health infrastructure. 
Panama established the first national influenza surveillance network 
with 18 sentinel sites throughout the country for monitoring of 
influenza-like illness and hospital-based severe acute respiratory 
illness. The collaboration also supported completion of the first 
national biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) laboratory, which was inaugurated by 
the President of Panama and the HHS Principal Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Preparedness and Response in 2010. The GMI's BSL-3 
laboratory serves as the country[acute]s only facility for detection of 
equine encephalitis virus, multi-resistant tuberculosis, HIV, 
hantavirus, influenza, and other dangerous pathogens. The ASPR-GMI 
collaboration has also supported the implementation of new, safer 
biological decontamination procedures, with the concurrent

[[Page 43054]]

development of an interconnected electronic laboratory platform 
designed at GMI with technical support from the CDC Central American 
Regional Office, to provide real time laboratory results to health 
authorities.
    As a result of the collaboration between ASPR and GMI, over 5,000 
public health and medical professionals from more than 10 countries in 
the region were trained between 2006 and 2013. Training topics included 
laboratory biosafety, pathogen biosecurity, rapid testing methods, 
qualitative detection of ricin toxin, and safe shipping of infectious 
material. Using advanced technologies, laboratory professionals in the 
region can accomplish viral subtyping and molecular characterization of 
different influenza viruses which contribute to global situational 
awareness for pandemic threats. In 2011, ASPR supported GMI to enhance 
their BSL-3 virology suite for detecting and diagnosing emerging 
influenza and other infectious disease threats, including biological 
threat agents and novel influenza viruses. These efforts were achieved 
in collaboration with CDC's Laboratory Response Network. As part of 
this effort, ASPR and GMI hosted the first-ever Latin-American Regional 
Planning Meeting of Experts aimed at establishing a regional bio-safety 
association for biological risk management with participants from 11 
countries. Lastly, ASPR and GMI collaborated to advance IHR (2005) 
implementation and establishment of the IHR National Focal Point, known 
as the National Operations Center (Centro Nacional de Enlace [CNE]), in 
May 2013. CNE monitors all possible events that may require immediate 
intervention, response, or the need for international notification on a 
24 hour/7 days a week basis.
    Supporting IHR (2005) implementation and strengthening regional and 
global health security, including pandemic influenza preparedness 
efforts, to protect the health of the American population is a priority 
for the United States, as evidenced by the recent launch of the Global 
Health Security Agenda. After careful and thorough consideration, ASPR 
determined GMI is the only partner with proven capabilities to support 
the proposed program and meet HHS' needs of advancing IHR (2005) 
implementation and strengthening pandemic influenza and infectious 
disease preparedness in Panama. Collaboration efforts will also support 
infectious disease preparedness in neighboring countries, which 
facilitate early detection of diseases and potentially prevent regional 
and global spread. For the aforementioned reasons, GMI is uniquely 
qualified and the only appropriate partner to facilitate and support 
successful completion of the proposed project.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please submit an inquiry via the ASPR-
OPP Division of International Health Security--IHR Program Contact Form 
located at http://www.phe.gov/Preparedness/international/ihr/Pages/IHRInquiry.aspx.

    Dated: July 18, 2014.
Nicole Lurie,
Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response.
[FR Doc. 2014-17456 Filed 7-23-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-37-P