Strengthening the national HIV care and treatment program in Sierra Leone (SL) to accelerate the response to end the HIV/AIDS pandemic as a public health threat by 2030, under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) | CDC RFA JG 25 0060

Opportunity Information: Apply for CDC RFA JG 25 0060

This funding opportunity (CDC RFA JG 25 0060) is a PEPFAR-supported cooperative agreement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) focused on strengthening Sierra Leone's national HIV care and treatment program to help the country accelerate progress toward ending HIV/AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. The program is designed to support the Government of Sierra Leone through a mix of direct service delivery and technical assistance, with a strong emphasis on sustainability, improved quality of care, stronger local systems, and greater country ownership of the HIV response.

For funding, CDC notes that the Year 1 award ceiling is listed as 0 (meaning no formal cap is specified for Year 1), while the anticipated approximate total funding available for Fiscal Year support in Year 1 is $7.5 million, contingent on the availability of funds. CDC expects to make one award, signaling that a single implementing partner will likely be responsible for coordinating a broad set of national and subnational activities in close collaboration with government counterparts.

The core programmatic aim is to deliver and strengthen sustainable, high-quality HIV treatment services while driving measurable progress toward the global 95-95-95 targets (95 percent of people living with HIV knowing their status, 95 percent of those diagnosed receiving sustained antiretroviral therapy, and 95 percent of those on treatment achieving viral suppression). The opportunity highlights the need to disaggregate results and tailor approaches by age, gender, and population group, reflecting a focus on reaching those who are not being adequately served under current models. It explicitly prioritizes closing equity gaps for key and priority populations, including adolescent girls and young women as well as children, which often requires differentiated service delivery models, targeted outreach, and removing barriers that prevent consistent engagement in testing, treatment initiation, and long-term retention in care.

A major component of the work is strengthening monitoring and evaluation systems so the national program can reliably collect, analyze, and use high-quality data for decision-making at both facility and community levels. This includes building the capacity of the health system to track performance, identify gaps in the treatment cascade, and respond quickly with corrective actions. The emphasis is not only on reporting, but on routine data use for management, improvement, and accountability, which is essential for sustained gains in treatment coverage and viral suppression.

The opportunity also places strong weight on quality improvement and quality assurance at the facility level, along with related support services that enable consistent, patient-centered care. In practice, this typically involves improving clinical and program standards, strengthening mentorship and supportive supervision, ensuring adherence to national guidelines, and building processes that help clinics systematically reduce missed appointments, prevent treatment interruptions, and improve viral load monitoring and suppression outcomes. Quality improvement projects are framed as part of a broader effort to ensure the HIV program is not just expanding, but improving in reliability and impact.

Another key objective is national-level support for policies, guidelines, materials, and procurement for a full package of HIV prevention, care, and treatment. This indicates the award is meant to help strengthen the enabling environment for the HIV response, including the technical content of national guidance and the practical tools facilities need to implement that guidance. Procurement support suggests attention to ensuring continuity and availability of essential commodities and materials required for prevention and treatment services, consistent with government priorities and PEPFAR-supported programming.

Capacity building and sustainability are central themes throughout the announcement. The NOFO calls for strengthening local capacity, human resources for health, and partnerships that reinforce resilient public health systems. It also highlights collaboration with national and district health management teams (DHMTs) and civil society organizations (CSOs) to strengthen their technical and managerial ability to implement service delivery models that are increasingly customized for country ownership. This points to an approach where implementation is not only about delivering services in the short term, but also about transferring skills, improving management systems, and establishing routines and governance structures that Sierra Leone can sustain over time.

Eligibility is broad and includes multiple types of U.S. and other entities that commonly apply for CDC cooperative agreements, such as state and local governments, public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations (including those with and without 501(c)(3) status), for-profit organizations (including small businesses), tribal governments and organizations, public housing authorities, and other unrestricted applicants. The closing date listed is February 24, 2025, and the opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding using a cooperative agreement mechanism, which generally implies substantial involvement by CDC in collaboration, oversight, and technical direction during implementation.

• The Centers for Disease Control-GHC in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Strengthening the national HIV care and treatment program in Sierra Leone (SL) to accelerate the response to end the HIV/AIDS pandemic as a public health threat by 2030, under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.067.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-12-06.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-24. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: 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/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Unrestricted.

Apply for CDC RFA JG 25 0060

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