Grounds for Health (GFH) Grounds for Health (GFH) is an international nonprofit organization that provides health care to women in coffee-producing communities. GFH’s mission is to create effective, sustainable cancer screening and treatment programs for the women who need it most – those without access to health care. Its primary focus is on the early detection of cervical cancer, a leading cause of cancer deaths among women in developing countries – including those that produce coffee.

Grounds for Health currently works in the coffee-growing regions of Mexico, Nicaragua, and Tanzania, where it holds week-long campaigns to screen and treat women for cervical cancer. GFH partners with coffee-producing cooperatives in these areas, who serve as the bridge to care by educating and informing women about the importance of screening. The coffee-producing cooperatives also ensure that women have access to care, by providing transportation for those who simply cannot afford to pay, and who may live several hours away from the local clinic. To create sustainable health care, GFH works side by side with local health care providers, training them to continue to deliver this life-saving care long after the GFH campaigns end.




FY ’09 Highlights:

• Conducted a campaign with the CECOCAFEN cooperative in Matagalpa, Nicaragua.  This was the first campaign at this site.  Three hundred and ten women were screened and 20 women were treated with Cryotherapy.  In addition 18 community health promoters were trained, and 14 providers were trained with ten being awarded certificates of competency. 
• Conducted a campaign with the SOPPEXCCA cooperative in Jinotega, Nicaragua.  This was the second campaign at this site.  482 women were screened, and 20 were treated with Cryotherapy.
• In February 2009, a planning and assessment trip to Tanzania was made in preparation for the first Grounds for Health campaign in the country.  Meetings were held with the Ministry of Health, National Cancer Institute, and the Jane Goodall Institute.
• Other campaigns during the year included CESMACH (Jaltenango, Mexico) and a campaign with the Jane Goodall Institute/Kanyouvu (Kigoma/Matyazo, Tanzania).  The work in Kigoma region included the first-ever cervical cancer prevention program.  During the campaign 15 community health promoters were trained in basic understanding of cervical cancer, its risks and prevention.  406 women were screened and 9 women were treated with Cryotherapy.