| We bring women's healthcare to coffee-growing communities | What's New  |
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What's New? Grounds for Health introduces revolutionary new model to address early detection and treatment Grounds for Health is one of the first organizations to bring innovative, life-saving technology to coffee farmers and their families. Based on research funded by the Gates Foundation and the World Health Organization, this new approach, called "Single Visit Screen & Treat" has been shown to be affordable, effective and, most important, sustainable in low-resource settings. This approach allows rural women to receive care in one day. Even more important for long-term sustainability, the skills and equipment needed are simple enough for general health care providers in local communities to continue to deliver this essential care. Grounds for Health Expands Partnerships, Programs to Nicaragua, Tanzania Grounds for Health will expand its highly successful program of cervical cancer prevention to two new sites: working with CECOCAFEN in Matagalpa Nicaragua, and Kanyovu Coffee Cooperatives in Kigoma, Tanzania. Thanks in large part to the Specialty Coffee Industry’s support for its programs, this fall Grounds for Health will begin work with Project Hope International in Nicaragua, and in 2009 will work with the Jane Goodall Institute in Tanzania to provide master training for key medical personnel in the new model of care that will finally bring this essential life-saving service to women in coffee-producing communities. "Breaking New Ground" reception raises funds for GFH at the 2008 SCAA Convention Breaking New Ground, a special reception for Grounds for Health generously sponsored by Caribou Coffee, was held on Saturday, May 3rd in the Seasons Room at the Minneapolis Convention Center. We were pleased to see so many supporters there, and were happy to share news about new project sites in Nicaragua and Tanzania, which will introduce new life-saving innovations for early screening and treatment. A silent auction was held of photographs generously donated by Mark Tuschman, a well-known photographer specializing in international human rights and health issues. The auction raised over $3,000 to support our work. Thank you to all our generous supporters! Grounds for Health's First Campaign in Nicaragua Grounds for Health conducted our first campaign in partnership with Soppexcca from November 5th to 16th, 2007. This was 'Single Visit Screen & Treat' in action, and the response was powerful. The first week focused on training of local health promoters and a clinic for health practitioners in VIA and Cryotherapy. During the second week we put the new protocol into practice. By the end of the campaign 469 women had been screened, 41 women received same-day treatment with cryotherapy, and 12 local practitioners had been trained. Community Health Promoter Training in Mexico Community health promoters are key members of Grounds for Health's outreach team. Besides serving as the primary links between the coffee communities and our screening campaigns, they also act as general community health advocates. During our most recent campaign in Jaltenango, Chiapas, 12 women participated in a two-day interactive training facilitated by staff from GFH and CESMACH, our partner cooperative. In addition to discussing general terminology and details relating to anatomy, the promotoras learned facts about the transmission and progression of HPV (the virus that causes cervical cancer), criteria for inviting the women at highest risk for cervical cancer to attend the upcoming screening campaign, and techniques for giving community health information sessions. The following week, each of the promotoras brought groups from their communities to be screened. GFH was in Jaltenango from December 3-14, 2007; by the end of the campaign we had seen 505 women, provided same-day treatment with cryotherapy to 17 women, and trained 30 local professionals in the Single Visit Approach. Final Huatusco Campaign In April, after eight years of partnership, Grounds for Health conducted a final campaign with La Unión Regional de Pequeños Productores de Café in Huatusco, Mexico. The co-op has demonstrated that they are ready to manage the program on their own, so we will now step into a technical assistance role as La Unión continues to partner with local health services to provide cervical cancer screening and treatment services to women in its communities. The co-op credited its partnership with GFH for developing a sense of increased responsibility for social programming, bringing the issue of women’s health to the forefront, and building a network of trained community health promoters who will now continue to provide workshops on topics including nutrition, vaccination and the use of the national social security system. During this past campaign 41 health promoters attended the training session, and they were an incredible group of talented and motivated women. After eight years in Huatusco, over 7,000 paps have been taken and processed; on average, 5% of the Pap results were abnormal. Thanks to the generous donations from our funders, a dysplasia clinic has been established in the Huatusco hospital and treatment is now locally available. We're very proud of what we've accomplished to date, and look forward to many years of continued good work in Huatusco.
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