Where There Is No Doctor

Last updated
Where There Is No Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook
Where There Is No Doctor book cover, 13th revised printing.jpg
Author David Werner
Carol Thuman
Jane Maxwell
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Subject Health care
Publisher Hesperian Health Guides
Publication date
Second revised edition: 1992. Fifteenth revised printing: November 2017
Pages512
ISBN 978-0-942364-15-6
OCLC 25592300
610 20
LC Class RC81 .W4813 1992

Where There Is No Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook is a healthcare manual published by Hesperian Health Guides. Based on David Werner's experiences at his Project Piaxtla in western Mexico, it was originally written in 1970 in Spanish as Donde No Hay Doctor. [1] It has since been revised multiple times, sold over one million copies, and been translated into over 100 languages. The book is available for purchase as a book or CD, and can be downloaded as a PDF for free. [2]

Contents

Its distribution is worldwide. In Uzbekistan, a United States Agency for International Development grant enabled a team under Dr. Donald Elsworth and Robert Graves of Central Asian Free Exchange to translate the book into Uzbek. [3] The U.S. Peace Corps has also distributed it in The Gambia. [4]

In 2012, Hesperian Health Guides launched their Digital Commons, and health manuals, including Where There Is No Doctor, which could at one time be downloaded in 26 different languages, including Arabic, Filipino, Khmer, Lao, Portuguese, Spanish, and Urdu. [5] The Commons also made available images from the book.

Content

The book covers diarrhoea, malaria, bone fractures, ringworm, and others. Special emphasis is placed on hygiene, a healthy diet and vaccinations. The new edition includes information about some additional health problems, such as AIDS, dengue fever, complications from abortion, and drug addiction, and covers both childbirth and family planning. [6]

Reception

In the British Medical Journal , a 1998 review said:

Chances are that if you visited a remote district hospital in a developing country you would find a well thumbed copy of Where There is No Doctor in its library. The book is intended primarily for village health workers, but generations of doctors and medical missionaries who have worked in under-resourced communities globally will vouch for its value in providing concise reliable information. [7]

The book was referenced in a 2004 article in The Lancet , entitled "Can we achieve health information for all by 2015?" The authors wrote that:

A community health worker may find a single copy of Where There is No Doctor, adapted and written in the local language, more useful than access to thousands of international journals. [8]

In the Journal of the American Medical Association , a 2010 review said,

it is still not known if the book effectively improves health. [However,] In most of the world, where physicians are not available and diseases are rampant, the status quo is unacceptable. Until better solutions are created, Where There is No Doctor is probably a useful stop-gap measure. [9]

Related Research Articles

Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients." The aim of EBM is to integrate the experience of the clinician, the values of the patient, and the best available scientific information to guide decision-making about clinical management. The term was originally used to describe an approach to teaching the practice of medicine and improving decisions by individual physicians about individual patients.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randomized controlled trial</span> Form of scientific experiment

A randomized controlled trial is a form of scientific experiment used to control factors not under direct experimental control. Examples of RCTs are clinical trials that compare the effects of drugs, surgical techniques, medical devices, diagnostic procedures, diets or other medical treatments.

<i>The Lancet</i> Peer-reviewed general medical journal

The Lancet is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also one of the world's highest-impact academic journals. It was founded in England in 1823.

<i>The BMJ</i> British peer-reviewed medical journal

The BMJ is a weekly peer-reviewed medical journal, published by BMJ Group, which in turn is wholly-owned by the British Medical Association (BMA). The BMJ has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Previously called the British Medical Journal, the title was officially shortened to BMJ in 1988, and then changed to The BMJ in 2014. The journal is published by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, a subsidiary of the British Medical Association (BMA). The current editor-in-chief of The BMJ is Kamran Abbasi, who was appointed in January 2022.

A medical error is a preventable adverse effect of care ("iatrogenesis"), whether or not it is evident or harmful to the patient. This might include an inaccurate or incomplete diagnosis or treatment of a disease, injury, syndrome, behavior, infection, or other ailment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julian Tudor-Hart</span> British general practitioner

Alan Julian Macbeth Tudor-Hart, commonly known as Julian Tudor Hart, was a general practitioner (GP) who worked in Wales for 30 years, known for theorising the inverse care law. He produced medical research and wrote many books and medical articles.

The Declaration of Helsinki is a set of ethical principles regarding human experimentation developed originally in 1964 for the medical community by the World Medical Association (WMA). It is widely regarded as the cornerstone document on human research ethics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon Guyatt</span> Canadian physician

Gordon Henry Guyatt is a Canadian physician who is Distinguished University Professor in the Departments of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact and Medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He is known for his leadership in evidence-based medicine, a term that first appeared in a single-author paper he published in 1991. Subsequently, a 1992 JAMA article that Guyatt led proved instrumental in bringing the concept of evidence-based medicine to the world's attention.[2] In 2007, The BMJ launched an international election for the most important contributions to healthcare. Evidence-based medicine came 7th, ahead of the computer and medical imaging. [3][4] Guyatt's concerns with the role of the medical system, social justice, and medical reform remain central issues that he promoted in tandem with his medical work. On October 9, 2015, he was named to the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.

Petr Skrabanek was a doctor, physician, professor of medicine, and author of several books and many articles. Skrabanek was described by Ben Goldacre as "a lifelong champion of clear thinking, scepticism, and critical appraisal", and expressed vocal criticism of what he dubbed "cacademics", "quackupuncturists" and "nonsensus-consensus". Skrabanek was a polymath, loving jazz, history, literature and playing the piano. He spoke several languages thanks to which he was able to deeply study Joyce's last work - the avant-garde novel Finnegans Wake.

David Lawrence Sackett was an American-Canadian physician and a pioneer in evidence-based medicine. He is known as one of the fathers of Evidence-Based Medicine. He founded the first department of clinical epidemiology in Canada at McMaster University, and the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. He is well known for his textbooks Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine.

The doctor–patient relationship is a central part of health care and the practice of medicine. A doctor–patient relationship is formed when a doctor attends to a patient's medical needs and is usually through consent. This relationship is built on trust, respect, communication, and a common understanding of both the doctor and patients' sides. The trust aspect of this relationship goes is mutual: the doctor trusts the patient to reveal any information that may be relevant to the case, and in turn, the patient trusts the doctor to respect their privacy and not disclose this information to outside parties.

David B. Werner is author of the book Donde No Hay Doctor, co-founder and co-director of HealthWrights and Adjunct Associate Professor at Boston University School of Public Health, Department of International Health. A biologist and educator by training, he has worked for many years in rural health, community health, village health care, community-based rehabilitation, and child-to-child health initiatives in the Third World, especially Mexico.

Hesperian Health Guides, formerly known as Hesperian Foundation, is a nongovernmental non-profit organization publishing health guides for trained and untrained people to care for themselves and others. The foundation is based in Berkeley, California. Among their best-selling publications is Where There is No Doctor, first published in 1973 and updated every few years. The book has been translated to more than 80 languages and the World Health Organization estimates that it may be the most widely used public health manual in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medical journalism</span>

Medical journalism is news reporting of medical news and features. Medical journalism is diverse, and reflects its audience. The main division is into (1) medical journalism for the general public, which includes medical coverage in general news publications and in specialty medical publications, and (2) medical journalism for doctors and other professionals, which often appears in peer-reviewed journals. The accuracy of medical journalism varies widely. Reviews of mass media publications have graded most stories unsatisfactory, although there were examples of excellence. Other reviews have found that most errors in mass media publications were the result of repeating errors in the original journal articles or their press releases. Some web sites, such as Columbia Journalism Review and Hippocrates Med Review, publish and review medical journalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community health worker</span> Type of informal health care provider

A community health worker (CHW) is a member of a community who provides basic health and medical care within their community, and is capable of providing preventive, promotional and rehabilitation care to that community, typically without formal education equal to that of a nurse, CHO, or doctor. They are chosen within the community to assist a train personnel community health extension worker who is train in college or schools of health. A community health extension worker (CHEW) is a specially trained professional who provides similar preventive, curative and rehabilitative health care and services to people where they live and work, the CHEW Are well trained for three years And they graduate with diploma While the JCHEW are trained for two years and graduate with certificate Other terms for this type of health care provider include lay health worker, village health worker, community health aide, community health promoter, and health advisor.

Alessandro Liberati was an Italian healthcare researcher and clinical epidemiologist, and founder of the Italian Cochrane Centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choosing Wisely</span> U.S.-based educational campaign

Choosing Wisely is a United States-based health educational campaign, led by the ABIM Foundation, about unnecessary health care.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Health information on the Internet</span>

Health information on the Internet refers to all health-related information communicated through or available on the Internet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvey Chochinov</span> Canadian academic and psychiatrist

Harvey Max Chochinov is a Canadian academic and psychiatrist from Winnipeg, Canada. He is a leading authority on the emotional dimensions of end-of-life, and on supportive and palliative care. He is a Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Manitoba and a Senior Scientist at CancerCare Manitoba Research Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Davida Coady</span> American pediatrician and international health activist (1938–2018)

Davida Coady was a U.S. pediatrician and international health activist. She was "devoted to the care of disadvantaged children, refugees, addicts, and lifers".

References

  1. Werner, David; Thuman, Carol; Maxwell, Jane; Werner, David (2009). Where there is no doctor: a village health care handbook (Rev. ed., 10. printing ed.). Palo Alto, Calif: Hesperian Foundation. ISBN   978-0-942364-15-6.
  2. "Hesperian English PDFs". languages.hesperian.org. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  3. David Nalle (2000-02-25). "Ferghana Report (Central Asia Monitor, 2000 No. The Nepali version of this book was translated by Dr Yogendra Pradhanang, which is very popular in Nepal. 1)" . Retrieved 2008-11-05.
  4. Jamie Rhein. "Peace Corps testimonial" . Retrieved 2008-11-05.
  5. "Welcome to the Hesperian Digital Commons" . Retrieved 2012-05-11.
  6. "Where There Is No Doctor review" . Retrieved 2012-04-19.
  7. Saloojee, Haroon (1998). "Book: Where There is No Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook for Africa". BMJ. 317 (7171): 1532. doi:10.1136/bmj.317.7171.1532. PMC   1114362 . PMID   9831604.
  8. Godlee, F.; Pakenham-Walsh, N.; Ncayiyana, D.; Cohen, B.; Packer, A. (2004). "Can we achieve health information for all by 2015?" (PDF). The Lancet. 364 (9430): 295–300. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.110.7144 . doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(04)16681-6. PMID   15262109.
  9. Babu, E.; Eisenberg, D. T. A. (2010). "Where There is No Doctor". JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association. 303 (9): 885. doi:10.1001/jama.2010.244.