Hemophilia of Georgia Launches Online Handbook

Horizons in Hemophilia, February 2012 

By Jeff Cornett, Director of Training, Research, and Advocacy

Hemophilia of Georgia is proud to announce the availability of its new online resource, The Hemophilia, von Willebrand Disease & Platelet Disorders Handbook.  The new go-to place on the Internet for bleeding disorder information can be found at www.hog.org/handbook.

In 1988, Hemophilia of Georgia published the first print edition of The Hemophilia Handbook.  What began as a day-to-day guide for Georgians living with a bleeding disorder quickly became a resource used around the world.  In response to many requests, in 2007 HoG published The VWD & Platelet Disorders Handbook.  Now the agency is offering both publications combined online in an expanding format.

Hemophilia of Georgia realized that many people no longer rely on books when they have a medical question. Instead, they go to the Internet.  Converting the handbooks to an online resource makes the information about living with bleeding disorders more accessible and more current. 

Readers of the print edition will recognize the chapter names that have been carried over to the online edition.  They’ll also find the same, easy-to-read format.  New features have been added, such as the “pop-up” glossary.  Move your cursor over select words in The Handbook (those underlined in blue) and a balloon showing the definition of the word will appear.  Readers can also ask questions and suggest additions to The Handbook using the “Post a Comment” feature.  One thing readers won’t find:  ads.  Hemophilia of Georgia has never accepted funding for The Handbook from any pharmaceutical company.  The content of the handbook is only influenced by our physicians, nurses, and social workers and, of course, the people with bleeding disorders and their families who send us comments.

While The Hemophilia Handbook was always free for people in Georgia affected by bleeding disorders, others had to pay the printing and shipping costs.  That put the books out of reach of most people outside of the U.S.  Now anyone with access to the Internet can read the information free of charge.  (A limited number of print editions of The VWD & Platelet Disorder Handbook and La Guía de Hemofilia are still available for purchase by calling the Hemophilia of Georgia office.)