Title: Where there is no doctor: a village health care handbook. Revised edition.

POPLINE Document Number: 077663

Author(s):

Werner D
Thuman C
Maxwell J

Source citation:

Palo Alto, California, Hesperian Foundation, 1992 May. [15], 29, 446, [7] p.

Abstract:

The village health care guide provides practical advice through simple words and drawings on first aid. It is directed to the villager without access to medical centers, the village storekeeper or pharmacist, the teacher, the village health worker, and mothers and midwives. Color coding distinguishes various sections: information for the village health worker; 23 chapters on common health problems and family planning and nutrition; medicines indexed by brand and generic name and medical use and dosage; and a special section on AIDS, genital sores, male circumcision, low birth weight babies, ear wax, leishmaniasis, guinea worm, emergencies from frostbite and hypothermia, poisoning from pesticides, complications from abortion, drug abuse and addiction, and how to measure blood pressure. A glossary of terms, an index to the entire volume, and forms for medicine dosage and patient medical report are also included. The last page shows at a glance information on vital signs (temperature, pulse, respiration, blood pressure) and weight and volume equivalents. The main body of the text is devoted to: home cures and popular beliefs; sicknesses that are often confused; how to examine a sick person; how to care for a sick person; healing without medicines; right and wrong use of modern medicines; antibiotics and how to use them; how to measure and give medicine; instructions and precautions for injections; first aid; nutrition; prevention (cleanliness, sanitation, immunizations, worms); common sicknesses; serious illnesses that need special medical attention; skin problems; eyes; teeth; gums; and mouth; urinary system; information for mothers and midwives (menstruation, pregnancy, menopause); family planning; health and sicknesses of children; health and sicknesses of older people; and the medicine kit. Family planning discussion considers whether birth control is safe, how to choose a method, birth control pills, other methods, combined methods, permanent methods for those who want no more children, and home methods for preventing pregnancy (breast feeding and the sponge). First aid covers fever, shock, loss of consciousness, something stuck in the throat, drowning, mouth-to-mouth breathing, emergencies caused by heat, controlling bleeding from a wound, stopping nosebleeds, cuts and scrapes, large cuts, bandages, infected wounds, bullet or knife wounds appendicitis, broken bones, how to move an injured person, dislocations, strains, poisoning, and snakebite.

Keywords:

Developing Countries
Manual
Treatment
Health Education
Preventive Medicine
Medicine, Traditional
Nutrition
Beliefs
Examinations and Diagnoses
Signs and Symptoms
Primary Health Care
Delivery of Health Care
Risk Assessment
Reproductive Health
Family Planning
Midwives and Midwifery
Community Workers
Health Personnel
Mothers
Education
Medicine
Health Services
Health
Culture
Diseases
Evaluation
Parents
Family Relationships
Family Characteristics
Family and Household