The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), operating under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has issued a forecasted Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). This opportunity aims to provide targeted technical assistance (TA) to support Botswana’s efforts in implementing sustainable and comprehensive HIV clinical and prevention services for both adults and children. The overarching objective is to enhance the national HIV response by improving care delivery, increasing case finding, and ensuring continuity of treatment and viral suppression outcomes.
Specifically, the NOFO seeks to strengthen Botswana’s healthcare systems and service providers by focusing on several key intervention areas. These include comprehensive HIV care and treatment for adults, advanced HIV disease management, and targeted biomedical prevention strategies like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). Additionally, the program will support tuberculosis (TB) screening and prevention among people living with HIV, cervical cancer prevention among women with HIV, and youth-responsive prevention services. The initiative will also assist in leveraging primary healthcare systems to sustain integration and service delivery.
A particular emphasis of this NOFO is placed on pediatric care, with targeted support for children and adolescents through improvements in treatment, data quality, and usage. Another core component involves capacity-building for healthcare providers across HIV-related programs and the development of innovative national guidelines that will help maintain long-term epidemic control. These efforts are designed to align with Botswana's health policy goals and PEPFAR’s strategic targets.
The funding mechanism for this NOFO is a cooperative agreement, which indicates substantial federal involvement in the project’s execution. CDC anticipates awarding approximately $7,500,000 for Year 1, though the official award ceiling, award floor, and total program funding are not finalized and have been forecasted as $0 in the notice. Up to three awards are expected. Funding remains contingent upon availability of federal appropriations.
Eligible applicants include a wide range of entities such as state, county, and city governments, federally recognized and other tribal organizations, special district governments, nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status, public housing authorities, higher education institutions, small businesses, and for-profit organizations. This broad eligibility ensures inclusiveness but emphasizes applicants’ capacity to deliver high-quality technical support in line with the described program components.
The estimated timeline indicates an application due date of February 17, 2026, with anticipated awards announced by September 30, 2026, and project start dates also aligning with September 30, 2026. The notice was last updated on October 23, 2025, and is expected to be posted formally on December 2, 2025. No pre-application steps such as a Letter of Intent were specified. Interested applicants are advised to monitor the Grants.gov website for updates and contact DGHT NOFOs at pepfarfoas@cdc.gov for questions or clarifications.