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Grounds for Health Cervical
Grounds for Health's goal is to create sustainable and effective cancer prevention programs with a focus on the early detection and treatment of cervical cancer, a leading cause of death among women in developing countries. This year their Executive Director, Program Manager and five medical volunteers traveled to Tanzania to begin the first-ever cervical cancer screening and treatment prevention program in Kigoma, Tanzania. A donation was requested from Village Relief. Kigoma sits on the far western side of Tanzania on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. This is an isolated area with few roads and inconsistent rail and air connections. Village Relief’s mission is to serve people in remote villages, so we supported the screening and prevention program. Tanzania has one of the highest rates of cervical cancer in the world, due largely to a lack of health infrastructure to provide early screening and treatment. Village Relief agreed to donate a cryotherapy unit which is used to freeze and remove cancerous cells. Normally each unit and accompanying accessories cost $1,700 but we were able toacquire one directly from the manufacturer (Wallach) for $1017. The screening campaign was held in the village of Matyazo, which sits perched atop a 7,500 foot mountain. And it was a success! Grounds for Health was able to train 11 local healthcare professionals in the Visual Inspection technique, screen over 400 women from the Kigoma district, and establish ongoing services in the Matyazo and Maweni Hospitals. For more information, visit groundsforhealth.org
Dr. Robert Johnson peers into the operating
room microscope |
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Donation to Help Medical - Surgical Mission in Guatemala Eighteen middle ear surgical instruments were donated by VRF to help at the Hospital de la Familia in northern Guatemala. This hospital was built by the Family Club of San Francisco, and four times a year a team of American physicians travel there to donate their time and expertise doing needed surgery on local patients who have been selected by their doctors. The instruments were given to Dr. Aditi Mandpe, a San Francisco practicing otolaryngologist, who transported them for use at the hospital. Some of the procedures performed were for hearing loss, mastoid infections, and reconstructive ear surgery.
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 A Guatemalan mother and her child |
