Strengthening global health security in India to contain public health threats and accelerate outbreak response

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Global Health Center has issued Notice of Funding Opportunity CDC-RFA-JG-26-0051 to strengthen India's public health systems and advance Global Health Security Agenda priorities. This five-year cooperative agreement, with an expected start date of October 30, 2026, utilizes a One Health approach to enhance India's capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats. The initiative focuses on five key domains: public health workforce development, disease surveillance, laboratory systems strengthening, emergency preparedness and response, and the prevention of antimicrobial resistance. The program aims to transition these initiatives to Government of India institutions, including the National Centre for Disease Control and the Indian Council of Medical Research, to ensure long-term sustainability and alignment with International Health Regulations. Funding is structured across three components: core global health security priorities with a 1.5 million dollar annual ceiling, and two rapid response components for infectious disease outbreaks with annual ceilings of 5 million and 10 million dollars, respectively. While core funding is expected initially, the rapid response components remain approved but unfunded pending future availability. Applications are due by October 2, 2026, via Grants.gov and are evaluated based on background and approach, organizational capacity, and the evaluation and performance measurement plan. Awardees must adhere to strict cybersecurity plans for protecting personally identifiable information and utilize standardized indicators from the Joint External Evaluation and the 7-1-7 framework for timeliness analysis to measure success.