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.

We contributed $98,385 to GFH in FY ’08.



FY ’08 Highlights:

• Introduced the Single Visit Screen and Treat model in Matagalpa and Jinotega, Nicaragua, and Jaltenango, Mexico;
• Trained 24 doctors and nurses in clinical skills for visual inspection and cryotherapy;
• Gave clinical updates on cervical cancer prevention and treatment to 48 doctors and nurses;
• Trained 76 community health promoters in new and established work sites;
• Recruited 24 health professionals as volunteers to work on campaigns;
• Provided nearly 2,000 women with high-quality screening services;
• Provided same-day treatment with cryotherapy for 67 women who tested positive for cervical cancer; and
• Referred 22 women for further care and monitored their follow-up.