Strengthening the Public Health System in the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands | CDC RFA OT16 16010101SUPP17

Opportunity Information: Apply for CDC RFA OT16 16010101SUPP17

This grant opportunity is a CDC supplemental cooperative agreement focused on strengthening public health capacity across the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI), a region that includes the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, as well as the Freely Associated States of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia. Together these jurisdictions are home to more than 500,000 people spread across millions of square miles of ocean and five time zones, which creates major logistical hurdles for consistent public health service delivery. The opportunity is rooted in the reality that the USAPI face a dual burden of disease: persistent and sometimes high rates of communicable diseases alongside some of the worlds highest rates of obesity and related non-communicable diseases. These pressures are compounded by frequent and severe environmental disasters and escalating climate-related health threats, all of which strain health systems that already struggle with limited resources, fragmented service delivery, and infrastructure instability.

The CDC frames the underlying challenge as a system capacity problem, not just a need for short-term programming. Public health practice in the USAPI is affected by dispersed populations, workforce shortages, and unreliable supporting systems such as power grids, transportation networks, and government financing. Past assessments and published analyses cited in the announcement highlight gaps such as insufficient numbers of fully trained health workers, weak or inconsistent data systems, and structural fragmentation that disrupts continuity of care. Regional priority needs identified through prior reviews include building practical national health plans supported by viable resources and technical assistance, establishing stronger data systems and registries with staff training to maintain and use them, improving collaboration with community partners to deliver prevention services where people live, reducing fragmentation across healthcare and public health functions, and expanding continuing education opportunities for physicians, nurses, and other public health professionals.

This specific announcement is a supplemental funding opportunity tied to an earlier CDC FOA (CDC-RFA-OT16-1601, originally funded July 1, 2016). Rather than opening competition broadly, it allows the original awardee to submit a new project plan aimed at infectious disease preparedness and response capacity, with a particular emphasis on outbreak support and vector control. The funded work is designed to strengthen the USAPI ability to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats such as Zika by combining direct technical assistance with structured learning and improvement activities that can be applied across future events.

The supported activities are clearly laid out. First, the awardee is expected to provide on-site and remote technical assistance during outbreaks to strengthen local vector control and prevention systems, operational capabilities, and response effectiveness. Second, the project must systematically gather lessons learned from relevant stakeholders, which can include health departments and broader community leadership involved in response efforts. Third, the announcement calls for convening workgroup sessions to conduct After Action Reports and to translate those findings into Improvement Plans, ensuring that response gaps are documented and addressed rather than forgotten once an emergency subsides. Fourth, the awardee is expected to develop practical tools, resources, and trainings that directly target the weaknesses identified in Improvement Plans, helping jurisdictions standardize better practices and build repeatable response capacity.

The CDC describes capacity building in broad, practical terms: strengthening the people, organizations, and systems needed to perform essential public health functions, solve problems, and meet objectives at individual, institutional, and societal levels. The grant emphasizes three main capacity-building pathways. Workforce development focuses on improving knowledge, skills, and competencies while creating resources that staff can use in real time. Organizational development focuses on strengthening management structures, processes, and procedures within and across organizations, including coordination across public, private, and community sectors. Partnership development focuses on building relationships that improve how community needs are identified and met, how resources are coordinated, and how public communication is handled during routine operations and emergencies. The CDCs theory of change is that sustained investments in these areas will improve the quality, quantity, efficiency, and effectiveness of public health services, ultimately leading to better health outcomes across the USAPI.

Administratively, this is a discretionary CDC funding opportunity issued through OSTLTS, using a cooperative agreement mechanism, which typically means substantial CDC involvement in guiding or supporting implementation. The CFDA number listed is 93.874. The award ceiling is $150,000, with one expected award. Eligibility is effectively restricted to a single applicant: the Pacific Island Health Officers Association (PIHOA), the nonprofit 501(c)(3) that was the original awardee under the earlier FOA. The original closing date shown is March 24, 2017, and the opportunity number is CDC RFA OT16 16010101SUPP17.

• The Centers for Disease Control - OSTLTS in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Strengthening the Public Health System in the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.874.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-02-23.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-03-24. (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 $150,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Apply for CDC RFA OT16 16010101SUPP17

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