The classic village health care handbook “Where There Is No Doctor” is one of over a dozen publications available for free download on the Hesperian Foundation website. The manual covers a wide range of medical topics including: first aid, family planning, HIV/AIDS, healing without medicine, and many other health issues around the world.

Also available for free download, “Where Women Have No Doctor” is a handbook to women’s health, which covers sensitive topics, including: female genital mutilation, sex worker health, abortion, and the selling of girls into sexual slavery. Other free downloads include: “A Book for Midwives”, “Where There Is No Dentist”, “Helping Children Who Are Blind”, and “HIV Health and Your Community”. There are well over a dozen downloads available, including several in Spanish.

Targeted at international development workers, remote village health promoters, refugee camp workers, medical missionaries, and others who work and live in remote environments around the world, these manuals also provide a fascinating read for the average traveler. In addition to providing information on potentially lifesaving techniques and practices, they offer stories and insight into the social, cultural, and economic factors that affect world health.

While the books are available for free online under Hesperian’s open copyright policy, printed and bound copies can also be purchased from the non-profit, Berkeley-based organization at Hesperian’s website or Amazon.