David Werner
Encyclopedia
David Werner is author of the book Donde No Hay Doctor (Where There is No Doctor
), co-founder and co-director of HealthWrights (based in Palo Alto, California
) and a Visiting Professor at Boston University
International School of Public Health. A biologist
and educator by training, he has worked for many years in village health care, community-based rehabilitation, and Child-to-Child health initiatives in the Third World, especially Mexico.
For several decades Werner served as facilitator and adviser to Project Piaxtla, a villager-run program which contributed to the early conceptualization and evolution of Primary Health Care. It was located in Ajoya, San Ignacio, Sinaloa but moved to nearby Coyotitan in 2000. Out of Piaxtla grew PROJIMO, a Community Based Rehabilitation Program Organized and run by Disabled Youth of Western Mexico, still located in Coyotitan.
Werner has worked in more than 50 countries, mostly developing countries, facilitating workshops, training programs, and approaches to "health education for change." He has been a consultant for UNICEF, WHO, the Peace Corps, UNDP, and UN-ESCAP and various state and federal governments ranging from Mexico to India and Iran. He has received awards and/or fellowships from the World Health Organization
, the American Pediatric Association, the American Medical Writers Association, Guggenheim , and the MacArthur Foundation, among others. Werner is a founding member of the International People's Health Council. Werner has also been active in the Planning and Analytic Group for the People's Health Movement, which was launched at the People's Health Assembly, Bangladesh, 2000.
In the last several years he has facilitated Community Based Rehabilitation workshops that focus on assistive equipment made by participants, family members and disabled children.
Werner has illustrated and authored or co-authored several handbooks on topics including basic healthcare, innovative solutions with limited resources, and assistive technology including Where There is No Doctor
, Helping Health Workers Learn, Disabled Village Children, Nothing About Us Without Us, Developing Innovative Technologies For, By and With Disabled Persons and Questioning the Solution: The Politics of Primary Health Care and Child Survival.
In 1975 Werner co-founded the Hesperian Foundation
, which publishes Where There Is No Doctor and other books on community-based healthcare. Werner resigned from the organization in 1993 after board members voted for his dismissal following allegations that he had sexually abused teenaged Mexican boys in his care. Werner denied the allegations of abuse, and stated that "extensive investigations by the Hesperian Foundation and by the Palo Alto Police Department ...... [had] turned up nothing." No legal charges were laid against him; the police investigation was affected by the fact that the alleged victims did not live in the US.
Werner subsequently founded another health organization, Healthwrights.
Where There is No Doctor
Where There is No Doctor is the most widely used health education book in tropical and sub-tropical developing countries. Based on David Werner's experiences at his in western Mexico, it was originally written in Spanish as Donde No Hay Doctor. It has since been revised and has sold over one...
), co-founder and co-director of HealthWrights (based in Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
) and a Visiting Professor at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
International School of Public Health. A biologist
Biologist
A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
and educator by training, he has worked for many years in village health care, community-based rehabilitation, and Child-to-Child health initiatives in the Third World, especially Mexico.
For several decades Werner served as facilitator and adviser to Project Piaxtla, a villager-run program which contributed to the early conceptualization and evolution of Primary Health Care. It was located in Ajoya, San Ignacio, Sinaloa but moved to nearby Coyotitan in 2000. Out of Piaxtla grew PROJIMO, a Community Based Rehabilitation Program Organized and run by Disabled Youth of Western Mexico, still located in Coyotitan.
Werner has worked in more than 50 countries, mostly developing countries, facilitating workshops, training programs, and approaches to "health education for change." He has been a consultant for UNICEF, WHO, the Peace Corps, UNDP, and UN-ESCAP and various state and federal governments ranging from Mexico to India and Iran. He has received awards and/or fellowships from the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
, the American Pediatric Association, the American Medical Writers Association, Guggenheim , and the MacArthur Foundation, among others. Werner is a founding member of the International People's Health Council. Werner has also been active in the Planning and Analytic Group for the People's Health Movement, which was launched at the People's Health Assembly, Bangladesh, 2000.
In the last several years he has facilitated Community Based Rehabilitation workshops that focus on assistive equipment made by participants, family members and disabled children.
Werner has illustrated and authored or co-authored several handbooks on topics including basic healthcare, innovative solutions with limited resources, and assistive technology including Where There is No Doctor
Where There is No Doctor
Where There is No Doctor is the most widely used health education book in tropical and sub-tropical developing countries. Based on David Werner's experiences at his in western Mexico, it was originally written in Spanish as Donde No Hay Doctor. It has since been revised and has sold over one...
, Helping Health Workers Learn, Disabled Village Children, Nothing About Us Without Us, Developing Innovative Technologies For, By and With Disabled Persons and Questioning the Solution: The Politics of Primary Health Care and Child Survival.
In 1975 Werner co-founded the Hesperian Foundation
Hesperian Foundation
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...
, which publishes Where There Is No Doctor and other books on community-based healthcare. Werner resigned from the organization in 1993 after board members voted for his dismissal following allegations that he had sexually abused teenaged Mexican boys in his care. Werner denied the allegations of abuse, and stated that "extensive investigations by the Hesperian Foundation and by the Palo Alto Police Department ...... [had] turned up nothing." No legal charges were laid against him; the police investigation was affected by the fact that the alleged victims did not live in the US.
Werner subsequently founded another health organization, Healthwrights.