CDC-GHC: Advancing HIV Care in Sierra Leone to End AIDS by 2030 under PEPFAR

The NOFO will support the government of Sierra Leone (SL) in speeding up progress to end the HIV/AIDS pandemic as a public health threat by 2030 through direct service delivery (DSD) and technical assistance (TA), including:

• Carrying out a sustainable HIV care and treatment program and quality improvement projects.
• Building local capacity, human resources for health, and partnerships to strengthen sustainable public health systems.

Objectives

• This NOFO has several objectives, including to:
  • Carry out sustainable, high-quality HIV care and treatment services and reach the treatment targets for people living with HIV by age, gender, and population group.
  • Close equity gaps for key and priority populations, including adolescent girls, young women, and children.
  • Improve and sustain monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems to build capacity for high-quality data collection, analysis, and use of data for decision-making at the community and facility levels.
  • Support national policies, guidelines, materials, and procurement for a full package of HIV prevention, care, and treatment.
  • Optimize quality improvement and quality assurance (QI/QA) and related support services at the facility level.
  • Collaborate with the government of SL to strengthen the technical and managerial capacity of national and district health management teams (DHMT) and civil society organizations (CSO) to carry out service delivery models that are customized for country ownership of the HIV response.

Purpose 

• The purpose of this NOFO is to work together to create and deliver high quality solutions for sustainable HIV epidemic control through the following program areas:
  • HIV DSD.
  • Human resources for health.
  • QI/QA.
  • Health systems strengthening.

Funding Information

• Expected total NOFO funding for Year 1: $12,000,000
• They plan to award projects for five 12-month budget periods for a five-year period of performance.

Expected Outcomes

• The expected outcomes of this NOFO are:
  • Increased access to and use of complete HIV prevention, testing, and treatment services.
  • Increased capacity and skills of healthcare workers to provide quality HIV services.
  • Sustained implementation of CQI and quality management system initiatives at the site level.
  • Increased inclusion of clients and communities in planning and delivering HIV services.
  • Improved resiliency and adaptability of HIV programs to respond to challenges.
  • Increased capacity of local partners to manage and sustain HIV programs.
  • Improved policies and national coordination processes for the HIV response.

Eligibility Criteria

• Any and all types of organizations are eligible and encouraged to apply, including but not limited to those listed below:
  • State governments.
  • County governments.
  • City or township governments.
  • Special district governments.
  • Independent school districts.
  • Public and state-controlled institutions of higher education.
  • Native American tribal governments (federally recognized).
  • Public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities.
  • Native American tribal organizations, other than federally recognized tribal governments.
  • Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status, other than institutions of higher education.
  • Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status, other than institutions of higher education.
  • Private institutions of higher education.
  • For-profit organizations other than small businesses.
  • Small businesses.
  • Foreign or non-U.S. based entities.

Evaluation Criteria

• They will expect you to conduct an end-term evaluation.
  • Effect of scaled-up, differentiated HIV testing services, treatment literacy, and linkage to treatment on levels of treatment uptake and retention: outcome evaluation.
  • Facilitators and barriers to scaling up differentiated HIV testing services, treatment literacy, and linkage to treatment: process evaluation.
  • Facilitators and barriers to implementing decentralized pediatric ART services and expanding age-appropriate ART services for children and adolescents: process evaluation.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.