The Baxter International Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Baxter International, has announced grants totaling more than $1.3 million to twenty organizations in six countries to support initiatives that improve global access to quality and cost-effective health care.

Nine of the grants focus on improving access to health care for women and children in disadvantaged and underserved communities where Baxter employees live and work, including $44,669 to the Instituto Mexicano de Investigacion de Familia y Poblacion (IMIFAP) to improve the health of low-income women in Monterrey, Mexico. The award will allow IMIFAP to expand services in Monterrey to include intensive workshops on breast and cervical cancer prevention, reproductive health and family planning, and personal hygiene. In addition, IMIFAP plans to bring similar health-improvement workshops to seven additional states in Mexico.

"There are women and children throughout the world without access to the health care and support services they desperately need," said foundation president Jim Utts. "The organizations funded through the foundation's grants are committed to providing this population with services that will make an immediate and sustainable impact on these communities."