Surveillance for Diseases Among Immigrants and Refugees financed in part by Prevention and Public Health Funds (PPHF)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under the Department of Health and Human Services funds surveillance infrastructure and disease-prevention programs targeting newly arrived immigrants and refugees through Assistance Listing 93.755, with the most recent grant award dated September 30, 2015.

The program has not posted new competitive grant opportunities since 2015. The portfolio reflects 11 total awards spanning from 2012 to 2015, with activity concentrated in a single funding cycle per year (7 awards in 2012; 4 in 2015). The most recent award is now over a decade old, and all funded projects have reached their ultimate completion dates, indicating the program may be inactive or operating under a closed-grantee model. The CDC entirely funds the program, with $7.7 million in combined federal dollars obligated across the 11 awards.

Funded activities center on establishing surveillance capacity and disease-detection infrastructure among immigrant and refugee populations. Awards supported state-level Centers of Excellence in refugee health (Minnesota and Colorado), immunization-data systems integration through state Immunization Information Systems, and epidemiological training networks. The program operates predominantly through Cooperative Agreements (10 of 11 awards, 91 percent), with one Project Grant comprising the remainder.

Recent awards ranged from $47 thousand to approximately $2 million per award. Representative funded efforts include the Minnesota Center of Excellence Network for Training and Epidemiology in Refugee Health ($2.07 million, awarded September 2015) and the Colorado Department of Human Services Centers of Excellence in Refugee Health ($2 million, awarded September 2015). Smaller capacity-building awards ($443 thousand to $488 thousand) supported surveillance strengthening in Kentucky and other refugee-receiving jurisdictions.

The most recent posted opportunity (CDC-RFA-CK12-1205PPHFSUPP15, due August 19, 2015) was restricted to existing grantees and sought to strengthen refugee immunization data systems. No new open solicitations are evident in the source material. Prospective applicants should verify current program status with CDC before pursuing; the decade-long funding gap and completed performance periods suggest the program may be dormant or restructured.