Strengthening comprehensive HIV prevention interventions in Malawi under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) | CDC RFA JG 25 0048

Opportunity Information: Apply for CDC RFA JG 25 0048

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), through its Global Health Center and under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), is offering a discretionary funding opportunity to strengthen and scale comprehensive HIV prevention interventions in Malawi. The opportunity is published as a cooperative agreement, meaning recipients should expect an active partnership with CDC during implementation, including ongoing technical collaboration, shared planning, and performance monitoring rather than a simple pass-through grant. The program is designed to support Malawi's Ministry of Health (MOH) to expand prevention services in selected districts with high HIV incidence and prevalence and where there are significant gaps in HIV testing coverage, which are key drivers of continued transmission.

The central focus of this award is the scale-up of a "combination prevention" approach. In practical terms, CDC is emphasizing a comprehensive package that blends biomedical interventions (for example, measures that directly reduce biological risk of infection), behavioral interventions (activities that support safer decision-making and sustained risk reduction), and structural interventions (changes that address the social, cultural, and systems-level barriers that keep people from accessing services). The intent is to match prevention services to the needs of specific populations and communities based on local HIV risk factors, rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all model. By combining multiple prevention strategies, the program aims to reach people at different levels of risk and at different points along the prevention-to-care continuum.

The notice states three main aims for delivering combined prevention interventions. First, it seeks to provide a broad range of prevention options tailored to the priority populations, recognizing that different groups and individuals face different risk profiles and will respond better to different prevention tools. Second, it aims to promote an enabling environment for service uptake, which typically means reducing barriers like stigma, discrimination, inconvenient service delivery models, limited confidentiality, transportation challenges, or weak referral linkages. Third, it emphasizes promoting positive behavior adoption to reduce risk factors over time, reflecting the reality that sustained prevention impact depends not only on access to services but also on consistent, supported behavior change and community norms that make prevention easier to maintain.

The overarching goal is to reduce the number of new HIV infections through person-centered activities with sustained impact. "Person-centered" signals that services should be designed around the lived realities of the people they are meant to reach, including preferences, barriers, and the practical steps required to stay engaged. Rather than measuring success only by short-term outputs, the program description points toward prevention outcomes that last, such as improved testing uptake in underreached groups, stronger community acceptance of prevention services, and durable reductions in risk.

From a funding and administrative standpoint, CDC anticipates approximately $5,000,000 in total funding for the first year, contingent on available funds. The notice also indicates an "Award Ceiling for Year 1" of $0, which can be confusing but typically reflects how the opportunity is configured in the posting system rather than suggesting there is no money available; the narrative clearly states CDC expects to fund around $5 million in year one. CDC expects to make two awards. The opportunity number is CDC RFA JG 25 0048, the CFDA (Assistance Listing) number is 93.067, and the original application closing date is February 18, 2025. The posting lists a very broad set of eligible applicants, including various levels of government, public and private institutions of higher education, tribal entities, nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status), for-profit organizations (including small businesses), and an unrestricted category, indicating CDC is open to a wide range of potential implementing partners capable of supporting MOH-led scale-up in the targeted districts.

In short, this opportunity funds cooperative, MOH-supportive work in Malawi aimed at accelerating a district-focused, combination HIV prevention package. It prioritizes tailoring prevention options to risk, improving the environment for people to seek and use services, and reinforcing behaviors and systems that reduce transmission, with the ultimate aim of lowering new HIV infections through sustained, person-centered prevention delivery.

• The Centers for Disease Control-GHC in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Strengthening comprehensive HIV prevention interventions in Malawi 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 2024-12-02.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-18. (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 2 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 0048

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