U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Grant: Strengthening HIV/AIDS, STI, and TB Services in Eastern Ethiopia

Attach with “Other Attachment Forms” when submitting via www.grants.gov.
Consistent with the purpose of this FOA which is “to support universities in Eastern Ethiopia to build their HRH capacities and infrastructure to strengthen the delivery of HIV/AIDS, STI and TB services within the university and the surrounding area” eligibility is limited to local Ethiopian Universities in the eastern part of the country. The reasons for limited eligibility include the following:

•Local universities have the mandate for pre-service education of health workers in Ethiopia, which is required to strengthen human resource capacity.
•The Government of Ethiopia has recently mandated that in-service training of health workers be housed in, and coordinated by, local universities with health colleges.
•Local universities are the main source of the health workforce assigned at health facilities, RHBs and the Ministry of Health.
•Local universities have the unique experience and charter of training a variety of health professionals, through which they are well acquainted with the health system of the country, prevalent health problems and control measures for HIV/AIDS programs.
•Teaching hospitals in Ethiopia are solely administered by local, public universities. These teaching hospitals provide a unique setting for building capacity of local health professionals.
•Data have shown that the young, urban population – including university students – is at high risk for HIV. The need to strengthen on-site service delivery and improve education and awareness of the student population through university-based service providers ‘on campus’ is critical to building the university’s health systems to properly address the population’s increased HIV risk.
•In the interest of proper geographic distribution of services and support, this FOA is geographically focused on Eastern Ethiopia. CDC-Ethiopia has cooperative agreements in place with local universities in the other geographic regions of the country.

No other entities, aside from the local indigneous organizations defined in this justification, possess the ability to achieve the outcome of local capacity development through the activities stated within this Funding Opportunity Announcement.

CDC has had a cooperative agreement (CoAg) to support Haromaya University, a local university in Eastern Ethiopia. CDC support under CoAg PS000828 has focused on comprehensive prevention, STI control and training on HIV/AIDS for students, university staff and graduates. The activities to be supported under this FOA will build on the previous CoAg, and will further focus on strengthen human resources for health – both at the university and in the catchment area.