CDC Foundation Receives $13.5 Million in Grants for Global Health

Read the news and you will run across a variety of serious challenges facing our global community, running the gamut from concerns of nuclear weapons proliferation to rising public sector deficits.

Of course, public health challenges remain a concern as well, though it is essential to point out that in recent decades there have been significant public health advancements, such as immunizations, improved control of certain infectious diseases, and healthier babies and mothers. Importantly, most, if not all, of these advancements are the result of excellent work taking place through public-private partnerships, and that work continues.

Within that context, today I am pleased to announce the award of three grants to the CDC Foundation, totaling $13.5 million, from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. These grants will support the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) work, along with other partners, to address meningitis surveillance in sub-Saharan Africa, rotavirus intussusception (a type of bowel blockage in infants) surveillance in South Africa and an effort to leverage global rotavirus networks through the evaluation of molecular diagnostic tools.

In general, these projects involve a:
 

• $10 million, five-year project in which CDC and its partners will ensure the availability of high-quality, case-based meningitis surveillance data from across the African meningitis belt;
• $1.9 million, four-year Rotavirus Intussusception Study in South Africa that will establish surveillance for intussusception at pediatric hospitals in seven cities across that country; and
• $1.5 million, two-year project to leverage CDC’s rotavirus networks with an aim of evaluating novel molecular diagnostic tools that allow for the detection of multiple enteric pathogens. 

Over the years, CDC through the CDC Foundation has received many grants from the Gates Foundation for programs, such as strengthening disease surveillance and response in Central Africa and work toward the development of polio antivirals.

More than ever, I believe that public-private partnerships play an essential role in improving public health outcomes. We at the CDC Foundation are very proud to extend our longstanding partnerships with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as we work with CDC to make the world a safer and healthier place.

Photos: Top right: MenAfriVac in Burkina Faso. Bottom left: Rotavirus surveillance workshop organized by WHO AFRO.