NACCHO Announces COVID-19, Congenital Syphilis Funding Opportunities

This week, the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) announced two funding opportunities available for local health departments. These include:

Demonstration Site Project on COVID-19 Local Infection Prevention & Control

NACCHO, in conjunction with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Healthcare Quality and Promotion, announced the Building Local Operations Capacity for COVID-19 (BLOC COVID-19) demonstration site project to strengthen local infection prevention and control (IPC) capacity. NACCHO anticipates issuing awards in the form of fixed-price contracts up to $100,000 to local health department demonstration sites with the goals of increasing capacity for LHDs to prevent and respond to COVID-19 in health care facilities, strengthening IPC practices in high-risk facilities, increasing coordination among local IPC partners, and enhancing coordination with state and local IPC partners. Applications due July 1. Additional information is available here.

Innovations in Congenital Syphilis Prevention Project

NACCHO also announced the launch of “Innovations in Congenital Syphilis Prevention” to support LHDs in addressing the alarming rise of congenital syphilis cases. The launch of the new funding opportunity coincides with the release of a new analysis from the CDC that finds that one in two newborn syphilis cases in the U.S. occurs due to gaps in testing and treatment during prenatal care.

NACCHO, in partnership with CDC’s Division of STD Prevention, will support a diverse set of LHDs to galvanize local efforts to address rising rates of congenital syphilis and syphilis among pregnant individuals and individuals of child-bearing capacity. Funded LHDs will implement and evaluate their innovation or improvement, including addressing pregnancy testing, pregnancy intention ascertainment, STI testing and treatment, partner services, case management, and referral to care over approximately 12 months. More information is available here.