Strengthening the Diagnostic Transport Network in Liberia

Post Date

April 23rd 2015

Application Due Date

May 23rd 2015

Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, on the listed application due date.

Funding Opportunity Number

CDC-RFA-GH15-1631

CFDA Number(s)

93.318

Funding Instrument Type(s)

Cooperative Agreement

Funding Activity Categories

Health

Number of Awards

1

Eligibility Categories

Other

Riders for Health The Drummonds, Spring Hill Pitsford, Northampton, NN6 9AA

Funding

• Estimated Total Funding:

  $2000000

• Award Range:

  $0 - $2000000

Grant Description

Liberia is one of the three West African countries most heavily impacted by the 2014 West Africa Ebola Virus outbreak. During the onset of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Liberia, many hospitals, public health laboratories and health clinics closed imperiling the health of the Liberian population. While international NGOs, organizations and governments have arrived to help fill the gaps in the immediate need for laboratory testing and EVD treatment and care, there is only an informal link between the laboratories and locations where specimens are taken. Currently no formal specimen transport network exists in Liberia. Instead, an informal network of NGOs is providing transport for specimens requiring EVD testing to laboratories. This often leads to inefficiencies and pulls organizations away from their formal commitment to identifying and caring for EVD patients. Also, a small number of NGOs are also collecting and transporting swabs from dead bodies to laboratories as part of a temporary active surveillance network for EVD. As work continues to get to zero cases of EVD, the need for a more formal sample transport network is critical. This project will support the development and implementation of a national specimen transportation network in Liberia. The network will link hospitals, active surveillance for EVD efforts and health care centers across the country to the nearest laboratory with the capabilities to test for Ebola and/or other relevant common diseases. This national specimen transportation network will ensure the rapid delivery of specimens in a manner designed to preserve specimen integrity to laboratories. This capacity is necessary in order for Liberia to get to and maintain zero cases of EVD, increase Liberia’s ability to rapidly detect future outbreaks and will be a vital component of the public health infrastructure necessary for future national disease surveillance programs.

Contact Information

• Agency

  Department of Health and Human Services

• Office:

  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• Agency Contact:

  Brian Wheeler
  BIW8@cdc.gov
  

• Agency Mailing Address:

  Grants Policy

• Agency Email Address:

  BIW8@cdc.gov

• More Information: