Nine institutions without competition — announcing single-source cooperative agreements in the Federal Register
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced awards to public health institutions in nine African countries as single-source cooperative agreements, made without a competitive process. The stated purpose is strengthening surveillance for influenza and other priority pathogens, and the amounts for fiscal year 2026 total 6.7 million dollars.
Document overview (primary data)
- Document typeNotice
- AgencyDepartment of Health and Human Services
- Citation91 FR 50539
Key points
- The announcement covers awards to public health institutions in nine African countries as single-source cooperative agreements, made without competition.
- For fiscal year 2026, five institutions receive about 800,000 dollars each, three about 600,000 each and one about 900,000, totaling 6.7 million dollars.
- The combined figure printed in the record does not parse as an amount; the computed sum is presented alongside the original.
- Amounts for years two through five are to be set at continuation, making this the first year of a multi-year arrangement.
- Only 15 of the 7,023 records this site holds as of 2026-09-04 (0.2%) mention single-source or sole-source awards.
1Spending without competition is exactly what gets announced
Government funding normally moves through a competitive process. This announcement covers the other case: cooperative agreements awarded to named recipients as a single source, with no competition. Without competition, the soundness of the selection is harder to see from outside. So the recipients, the amounts and the purpose are set out in the Federal Register.
The announcement itself reads as the accountability mechanism placed where competition would otherwise sit.
| Where the institution is | Amount for fiscal year 2026 | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Cote d Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Senegal | About 800,000 dollars each | Five institutions |
| Morocco, Tunisia, Zambia | About 600,000 dollars each | Three institutions |
| Uganda | About 900,000 dollars | One institution |
| Nine institutions combined | 6.7 million dollars | Sum of the individual amounts |
Every amount is subject to the availability of funds, and the record states that years two through five will be set at continuation. This is not spending that closes within a single year but the first year of a multi-year arrangement.
2The stated total cannot be read as printed
The announcement also gives a combined figure for the nine recipients in fiscal year 2026, but the digits as printed do not parse as an amount. Adding the individual figures gives 6.7 million dollars. This site leaves the original as it stands and presents the computed figure alongside it. Transcription errors occur even in official records.
When a total is stated, checking it against the itemized amounts before quoting it is the safer habit.
3What Health and Human Services files
Most of what this department files is notices as well. Among them, announcements of awards made without competition number only fifteen. Being rare is precisely what makes each one an occasion to explain why competition was not used. Here the reason offered is strengthening global surveillance for priority pathogens.
Why it matters
Spending that skips competition leaves the soundness of the selection hard to see from outside, and publishing the recipients, amounts and purpose is the procedure placed there to close that gap. The case also confirms a basic habit: official records can carry transcription errors, so a stated total is worth checking against its itemized parts before it is quoted.
FAQ
How can funding be awarded without competition?
What is the total?
Does the funding end after one year?
Sources (primary)
Source: Federal Register (federal documents, public domain). Links go to the official site.