Accelerating the Decline of Tuberculosis (TB) in High Burden Countries and Settings | CDC RFA GH18 1838

Opportunity Information: Apply for CDC RFA GH18 1838

The grant opportunity titled "Accelerating the Decline of Tuberculosis (TB) in High Burden Countries and Settings" (Funding Opportunity Number CDC RFA GH18-1838) is a CDC-led cooperative agreement designed to support global efforts to reduce TB illness and death, particularly in places where the disease remains most concentrated. TB is highlighted as the world’s leading infectious disease killer even though it is both preventable and curable. The description underscores the scale of the epidemic: roughly one quarter of the global population is infected with TB, more than 10 million people develop active disease each year, and more than 4 million of those who get sick are never diagnosed or treated. That gap in detection and treatment is a central focus of the opportunity because it allows transmission to continue and keeps national and global TB programs from reaching control targets.

A major emphasis of the opportunity is finding and treating the "missing 4 million" people with TB who are currently not reached by health systems. These individuals are often in vulnerable or underserved groups that face structural barriers to care or are difficult to reach through routine public health services. The notice specifically points to children, people living with HIV, migrants, refugees, and miners as examples of populations where TB may be underdiagnosed and undertreated. By focusing on these groups, the funding aims to improve equity in access to screening, diagnosis, and linkage to treatment, while also reducing ongoing community transmission.

The overall goal aligns directly with the World Health Organization’s End TB Strategy (adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2014). In practical terms, the program is meant to help end the TB epidemic by driving down TB deaths and TB incidence and by measuring and working to eliminate catastrophic costs associated with TB illness. The inclusion of catastrophic costs reflects a recognition that TB is not only a medical problem but also a socioeconomic one: even when treatment is available, costs from missed work, travel, nutrition needs, and caregiving can push households deeper into poverty, which in turn can worsen health outcomes and impede treatment completion.

This funding is structured around collaboration with the Stop TB Partnership and global TB stakeholders. The Stop TB Partnership is expected to develop and test models that expand TB screening and diagnostic approaches, with the explicit purpose of identifying people who are currently missed by standard case-finding strategies. The program also calls for intensified efforts where TB and HIV overlap, reflecting the reality that HIV substantially increases the risk of progressing from TB infection to active disease and complicates clinical outcomes. Strengthening the TB/HIV response in high burden countries and settings is therefore positioned as a core pathway to reducing mortality and preventing new cases.

Another key deliverable described in the opportunity is the development of a global strategic plan that can guide TB partners in implementing the End TB Strategy. This implies a focus on coordination, shared priorities, and practical guidance that partners can use across countries and settings. Alongside planning, the NOFO stresses improving collaboration and coordination among TB partners in a multi-sectoral manner, meaning engagement beyond ministries of health alone. Multi-sector coordination commonly involves areas such as labor and mining sectors, migration and refugee services, community-based organizations, and other actors who influence access to services, workplace exposures, and social protection measures.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Agency: CDC, Center for Global Health). The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which generally indicates substantial involvement by the funder in project direction, technical input, or joint decision-making compared with a standard grant. The CFDA number associated with the opportunity is 93.947. The opportunity anticipated a single award (Expected Awards: 1) with an award ceiling of $350,000. The posting indicates it was created on February 7, 2018, with an original closing date of April 8, 2018, and applications required electronic submission by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date. Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others," with additional details referenced in the full eligibility section of the notice.

Taken together, the opportunity is essentially a targeted investment in strategy, partnership coordination, and practical models for expanding TB case detection and addressing TB/HIV in high burden environments. Its core logic is that the fastest way to accelerate declines in TB is to find people earlier, reach populations that traditional systems miss, integrate and strengthen the TB/HIV response, reduce the financial harm TB causes to households, and align the many global TB actors under a shared strategic plan built around the WHO End TB framework.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control - CGH in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Accelerating the Decline of Tuberculosis (TB) in High Burden Countries and Settings" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.947.
• This funding opportunity was created on Feb 07, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 08, 2018 Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 1159 p.m., ET, on the listed application due date.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $350,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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