[Federal Register: May 3, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 84)]
[Notices]
[Page 22868-22870]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03my05-54]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[Program Announcement AA010]
HIV Prevention and Care for Refugees and Host Populations in
Turkana District, North Western Kenya; Notice of Intent To Fund Single
Eligibility Award
A. Purpose
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the
intent to fund fiscal year (FY) 2005 funds for a cooperative agreement
program to provide a comprehensive program for HIV prevention and care
for refugees,
[[Page 22869]]
humanitarian aid workers, and host populations in northwestern Kenya.
This program should include the operation of centers for voluntary
counseling and HIV testing in the Kakuma Refugee Camp, Lokichoggio, and
Kalokol.
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number for this program
is 93.067.
B. Eligible Applicant
Assistance will be provided only to the International Rescue
Committee (IRC) Kenya. No other applications are solicited, for the
following reasons:
Unique Ability
International Rescue Committee has 12 years of experience in
providing care to refugees and host populations in Kenya.
IRC Kenya has been present in Kakuma refugee camp since its
creation in 1992, and IRC Kenya has provided all of the medical care
for the entire population of over 90,000 refugees in the Kakuma refugee
camp since 1997, with funding from the U.S. State Department Bureau for
Population, Refugees, and Migration (BPRM), United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and other donors. No agency can work
in the Kakuma camp without the approval of UNHCR and the Government of
Kenya (GOK) Ministry of Home Affairs, and IRC is the only agency, which
has been given the mandate to provide medical and public health
services in Kakuma.
HIV services in Kakuma camp are integrated into a broader primary
care context, which results in: (a) Enhanced referral links that in
turn increase program coverage (from curative to home based care and
vice versa, from voluntary counseling and testing (VCT)/prevention of
mother to child transmission (PMTCT) to curative, TB to curative,
etc.); (b) improved achievement of the continuum of care goals that are
the result of a coordinated system that follows patients from the
moment of diagnosis to home based care through a care clinic; and (c)
streamlined program management. It would not be appropriate for a
different organization to provide HIV prevention and care in this
unique setting as it is more efficient for this HIV component to be
implemented in the context of the curative and preventive health care
services IRC provides in the camp.
In addition, IRC has the infrastructure, skills base and knowledge
of the region, which no other agency in the Turkana District in the
health care sector has obtained. With IRC as implementing agency it
would ensure that both maintaining and expanding on HIV/AIDS services
in the district programs would have cohesion, greater context and
cultural knowledge and a larger pool of resources.
Demonstrated Performance
IRC has the ability to plan, manage and implement programs in this
remote area quickly and successfully.
In FY01, CDC awarded IRC a cooperative agreement through program
announcement 00134--Leadership and Investment in Fighting an epidemic
(LIFE) Global AIDS Program. With an annual award of $300,000, IRC has
developed a comprehensive HIV prevention and care program in the Kakuma
camp, which includes two VCT centers and PMCT services in the camp
hospital. In FY04, with the United States President's Emergency Plan
for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Track 1.5 funding, IRC established a VCT
center in Lokichoggio, the transit point for Operation Lifeline Sudan.
This center is now providing HIV prevention services to refugees,
humanitarian aid workers flying into southern Sudan, and the local
Turkana population. IRC did not actually receive the Track 1.5 funding
until August 6, 2004, but in spite of these delays, VCT services were
initiated in Lokichoggio by the end of August 2004. No HIV prevention
or care services now exist in Kalokol but IRC has been asked by the
Turkana District Medical Office to extend the prevention and care model
used in Kakuma and Lokichoggio to this remote community. Experience in
program implementation both in Kakuma and Lokichoggio puts IRC in a
unique position to apply the lessons learned to Kalokol, which has many
similar characteristics to Lokichoggio and is also part of Turkana
district, a very remote and unique area of Kenya.
IRC has established good relationships with both the Government of
Kenya and local organizations working in these communities and
therefore can implement this program efficiently and effectively. There
is no other organization in Kakuma with the capacity to implement this
complex program, and there are no other organizations currently working
in HIV prevention for both humanitarian aid workers and the host
Turkana population in Lokichoggio and Kalokol.
Cost-Efficiency
This program will be implemented in the context of the broader
medical and public health services provided by IRC in the Kakuma
refugee camp, with funding from the United States Government (USG) and
UNHCR. The State Department BPRM has indicated a commitment to continue
this support to IRC in 2005. A cooperative agreement between IRC and
HHS/CDC for the HIV component of the public health program is much more
cost efficient than having one agency provide the medical and public
health services and a different agency provide the HIV specific
services. In addition, HHS/CDC providing funding to IRC allows for good
inter-agency coordination between the State Department BPRM and HHS/CDC
and between the USG and other donors, especially UNHCR.
Implementing a coordinated and comprehensive HIV/AIDS program in
these three communities operated by the same organization allows for
economies of scale and encourages the development of a network of
services for these currently under-served populations. Finally, because
IRC has a health and administrative infrastructure in Kakuma and
Lokichoggio, funded by other donors, this HIV program can be
implemented more economically than an agency, which would have to
establish new and duplicative infrastructures in these remote and
unique settings.
C. Funding
Approximately $600,000 is available in FY 2005 to fund this award.
It is expected that the award will begin on or before July 1, 2005, and
will be made for a 12-month budget period within a project period of up
to five years. Funding estimates may change.
D. Where To Obtain Additional Information
For general comments or questions about this announcement, contact:
Technical Information Management, CDC Procurement and Grants Office,
2920 Brandywine Road, Atlanta, GA 30341-4146, Telephone: 770-488-2700.
For program technical assistance, contact:
Elizabeth Marum, Ph.D., Project Officer, Global Aids Program [GAP],
Kenya Country Team, National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], P.O. Box 606 Village
Market, Nairobi, Kenya, Telephone: 254-20-271-3008, E-mail:
emarum@cdcnairobi.mimcom.net.
For budget assistance, contact:
Diane Flournoy, Contract Specialist, CDC Procurement and Grants Office,
2920 Brandywine Road, Atlanta, GA 30341, Telephone: 770-488-2072, E-
mail: dflournoy@cdc.gov.
[[Page 22870]]
Dated: April 26, 2005.
William P. Nichols,
Acting Director, Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 05-8749 Filed 5-2-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P