Establishment of a Strategic Partnership to Strengthen the Council of Ministries of Health of Central America (COMISCA) in the Central America Region under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)

The summary for the Establishment of a Strategic Partnership to Strengthen the Council of Ministries of Health of Central America (COMISCA) in the Central America Region under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

Establishment of a Strategic Partnership to Strengthen the Council of Ministries of Health of Central America (COMISCA) in the Central America Region under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR): The purpose and objectives relevant to this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) in the Central America Region are to support COMISCA, a unique entity that represents the Central American Ministers of Health, in carrying out its authority to develop plans for regional public health networks, including surveillance and laboratory. Through established and coordinated subject matter expert groups that are considered to be an authoritative voice by all countries in Central America, the FOA will support COMISCA to provide: 1) a learning opportunity; 2) a pathway for continuous improvement; 3) a mechanism for identifying resource and training needs, 4) a measure of progress with the potential to recognize the competency, quality, and reliability of medical laboratories vital to the provision of quality patient care. In addition, COMISCA will evaluate HIV surveillance systems and develop HIV surveillance strategic plans; and provide direction in the development of national standard operating procedures (SOPs) for linking HIV positive individuals to care and treatment services.

Specific objectives include:
• By the end of year three (March 2018), two national reference laboratories currently enrolled in Strengthening Laboratory Management toward Accreditation (SLMTA) will have scored 5 stars on their laboratory evaluations.
• Enroll labs from three regional hospitals from two countries in SLMTA by March 2018.
• Establish an International Certification body for Central America Region by March 2017.
• Develop a 5-yr National Lab Strategic Plan in two countries by March 2017.
• Conduct national HIV surveillance system evaluations in two countries to strengthen HIV case-based surveillance in two countries by March 2016.
• Develop a 5-yr national surveillance strategy in two countries to provide and disseminate high quality and timely HIV surveillance and survey information that will be used to monitor HIV prevalence, incidence, and HIV-related risk behaviors in support of evidence-based decision making for program management and policy formulation by March 2016.
• Develop national SOP with key stakeholders to link positive individuals between HIV testing and counseling (HTC) program and prevention, treatment, care and support services in all 7 countries in the region by March 2017.