The Global-HELP Organization, commonly referred to as HELP (Health Education using Low-cost Publications), provides free health-care information to developing countries and is committed to making medical knowledge accessible worldwide. Thanks to advances in software and communication, we can now make these publications available to places and people throughout the world. HELP is a humanitarian organization that is non-political and values racial, cultural, and religious diversity.
Disclaimer: these publications are for informational purposes only and are not appropriate or complete replacements for professional medical diagnosis. HELP and the original publishers assume no liability for actions performed as a result of these titles.
What is the story of Global HELP?
After experiencing the tragedy of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Drs. Lynn & Lana Staheli came to the conclusion that the best way to deal with conflict in the world was to address the underlying causes. While recognizing that the causes of terrorism are complex and multiple, the Stahelis believed the fundamental causes included poverty, despair, and poor health-care. Improving health would lead to a more peaceful world, they concluded, and improving health requires access to health-care information.
Given their backgrounds in medicine, academia, and publishing, providing access to health-education resources seemed a logical and powerful way to give something back. This spawned the idea for Global HELP (Health Education using Low-cost Publications): the creation, distribution, and broad access to affordable health-education materials.
While teaching in numerous countries, the Stahelis witnessed first-hand the need for information sharing in the medical world. Traditional sources of health-care information in journals and medical books that are traditionally produced in the United States and Europe were unaffordable and sometimes unsuitable in other areas of the world. They saw whole hospitals whose entire medical libraries did not fill a single bookshelf.
How could this health-care information gap be closed in other countries at an affordable cost or for free? Based on the Stahelis’ personal experience in creating computer-generated textbooks, digital publications looked like an excellent solution. Digital publications are generally created at low-cost and can be distributed without charge on the web or at a nominal cost in print or on compact discs.
In 2002, the Stahelis put the vision into action and created Global HELP, a not-for-profit organization.
Just six years later, Global HELP continues to expand its selection of free and low-cost publications — focused primarily as web-site PDF downloads — finding different ways to distribute medical information to new countries and new people every day.
How did HELP develop?
In 2002, HELP developed its basic philosophy and mission. The organization’s infrastructure — including its legal entity status, trademark, boards, and business plan — was built in 2003.
During this time, the Founding Board was created. The members of the Board volunteered their service and provided the funds that covered the operating expenses of the organization. This meant that all contributions from non-Board members were used to create and distribute publications, a model that remains to this day.
The Founding Board included Lynn & Lana Staheli, Susan Elliott, Lars Jonsson, and Paul Merriman. Since the beginning, Lynn Staheli has served as the unpaid Executive Director of the organization.
What has HELP accomplished?
During the past 6 years, Global HELP has provided 60 free publications, some of which were translated into 15 languages, with new publications added all the time. Over 250,000 PDF publications have been downloaded from our web-site to individuals in over 150 countries. In addition, 20,000 printed publications have been distributed in over 60 countries.
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Website
Facebook page: Global Help Org
