Supporting the National Blood Transfusion Service in the Implementation and Expansion of Blood Safety Activities in the Republic of Zambia under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)

Post Date

January 6th 2010

Application Due Date

March 8th 2010

Funding Opportunity Number

CDC-RFA-PS10-10106

CFDA Number(s)

93.067

Funding Instrument Type(s)

Cooperative Agreement

Funding Activity Categories

Health

Number of Awards

1

Eligibility Categories

Other

The ZNBTS is a statutory board under the MOH and the only institution mandated to ensure efficient and effective implementation of the national blood safety strategy. Since August 2004, ZNBTS has been implementing the PEPFAR funded “Rapid Strengthening of Blood Transfusion Services Program ”, a national program aimed at scaling-up safe blood transfusion services to ensure efficient, effective, equitable, and affordable access to safe blood and blood products throughout the country. The project is supported by PEPFAR, with a five year grant scheduled to end in March 2010. In Zambia, screening of blood for HIV, prior to transfusion, started in 1986 with technical and financial support from the World Health Organization (WHO). Under this program, a total of 33 blood screening laboratories were established, where blood was screened for HIV prior to transfusion into patients. However, these centers primarily focused on HIV screening only, without testing for the other transfusion transmissible infections (TTIs). Since 1988, Zambia identified the need and commenced the implementation of a comprehensive blood safety program, founded on the WHO guidelines for the establishment of national blood transfusion services. This program places an emphasis on: 1) Promotion of dependency on regular repeating VNRD from low-risk population groups, particularly regular repeating donors; 2) Development and application of stricter criteria for selection of blood donors; 3) Mandatory laboratory screening of blood for HIV, Hepatitis and Syphilis; 4) Application of appropriate technologies, methods and standards for laboratory screening and processing of blood; 5) Promotion of appropriate methods for clinical use of blood, so as to reduce blood transfusions to a bare minimum; 6) Development of appropriate national policy and legal framework to guide blood transfusion practices; and 7) Establishment of appropriate nationally coordinated blood transfusion system, with strong government support. Implementation of this strategy has been significantly accelerated by the commencement of PEPFAR support, which has already started making a significant positive impact on blood safety in Zambia. Achievements since the commencement of PEPFAR support include: - Increasing the number of blood units collected annually from 38,477 in 2004 to 90,049 at the end of March 2009; - Reduction in HIV prevalence among first time blood donors from 6.0% in 2004 to 3.8% in 2009; - ZNBTS has suc

Funding

• Estimated Total Funding:

  $22600000

• Award Range:

  $0 - $0

Grant Description

The purpose of this announcement is to support the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) in the provision of a safe and adequate supply of blood and blood products to health facilities in Zambia.

Contact Information

• Agency

  Department of Health and Human Services

• Office:

  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• Agency Contact:

  PGO TIMS
  grants
  Phone 770-488-2700

• Agency Mailing Address:

  GENERAL E-MAIL

• Agency Email Address:

  PGOTIM@CDC.gov