What does this Library contain?
The 2007 revised edition of HELID has been updated with new publications or technical documents, produced by PAHO and WHO in the last three years, in the fields of emergencies and disasters. In whole, it includes more than 650 publications or technical documents, in English, Spanish, and French, on a variety of health subjects related to the preparedness and response to emergencies and disasters, as well as disaster prevention and mitigation.
Most of the previous selections remain in the new collection, which were the result of a long consultation and exchange process. The WHO and PAHO programs for emergencies and disasters led the process, with the participation of United Nations agencies such as UNHCR, UNICEF and ISDR; the Red Cross movement through IFRC and ICRC; the Sphere Project; and with non governmental and national agencies such as the National Emergency Commission of Costa Rica. The result is a long list of documents with the most important titles these organizations have published in the field of emergencies and disasters.
Included in the collection are technical guidelines, field guides, case studies, content of emergency kits, manuals, disaster chronicles, and other training materials. To make consultation easier, we have used the following thematic classification:
- Public Health Management; Principles and Guidelines
- Emergency Preparedness and Response
- Disaster Mitigation
- Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
- Refugees and Internally Displaced Population Health
- Environmental Health and Chemicals
- Communicable Diseases
- Parasitic and Vector Borne Diseases
- Food and Nutrition
- Reproductive Health, Child Health and Immunization
- Mental Health
- Essential Medicines and Management of Supplies
- Management of War-wounded and Injuries
- Safe Blood and Laboratories Services
- HIV (AIDS)
- Safe Hospitals
An important annex is the complete collection (in English and Spanish) of Disasters: Preparedness and Mitigation in the Americas, a quarterly newsletter published since 1979 by PAHO/WHO, and Health in Emergencies, a newsletter published by WHO's Health Action in Crises.
All documents are in HTML (Hyper Text Mark-up Language) or PDF (Portable Document) formats.
Document search can by done by pre-selected main subjects (see under "Subjects"), by specific special descriptors, by title words, by words in any part of the document, or by publishing agency.
Comments or requests for additional information can be directed to the World Health Organization at crisis@who.int, or to the Pan American Health Organization at disaster-publications@paho.org.
Visit the collection online at www.helid.desastres.net, or consult WHO's or PAHO's websites:
www.who.int/disasters/
www.paho.org/desastres
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