Medical Teams International has received a $485,732 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support an 18 month program to improve the health of impoverished women and children in northern Uganda.

The grant will train 232 Ugandan health care workers, refurbish two critically needed medical clinics and implement sanitation services for more than 40,000 people living in Uganda's Lira District. The health projects will help thousands of families who are returning to their villages after years in makeshift camps. The World Health Organization estimates more than two million Ugandans have fled their homes since 2002 when fighting escalated.

"This is a critical moment to help Ugandan families recover their health and their future," says Bas Vanderzalm, president of Medical Teams International. "Funding from the Gates Foundation will train local health providers and enable Ugandans, especially women and children, to gain access to basic health care services and clinics, clean water and improved sanitary conditions. This grant is an investment in a sustainable solution for the people of Uganda."

Many Ugandan families are returning home to villages devastated by years of conflict. Water and sanitation systems are broken down and medicines and health clinics are nonexistent. Lack of hygiene and clean water contribute to conditions that quickly become deadly: malaria, dehydration from diarrhea and acute respiratory infections.

Working together with the Ministry of Health, Medical Teams International will train community health providers, helping them to update their primary health care skills and better manage childhood illnesses.

Medical Teams International has been working in northern Uganda since June 2004, providing medical care, health education, and medicines and supplies to local clinics and hospitals. More than 40 local staff manage projects in the Lira and Pader districts. Ten volunteer medical teams are scheduled to serve month-long assignments during the next 12 months.

For additional information about Medical Teams International's projects in Uganda, go to www.medicalteams.org or call 800-959-8325.