Introducing Global Health Action . . .

Our Mission * History * Philosophy * How We Work * For example . . .

Our Mission

To improve the health of individuals and communities around the globe through education, training, and practical programs in leadership, management, and health promotion.

History

In 1972, Dr. Ada Fort and Miss Virginia Proctor, two administrators at the Emory University School of Nursing, recruited and inspired a group of leaders from Atlanta’s health, religious, business, and education communities, and Global Health Action’s precursor, the International Nursing Services Association (INSA) was born.

INSA was founded to help foster healthier communities around the world and initially focused on health education and management training for nurses from developing countries. The idea was to not only improve the participants’ technical skills but, more importantly, to build their their administrative and leadership skills to run departments, programs, and organizations, enabling them to return to their home countries and multiply their impact on the populations and communities they served.

Nurses were soon joined in the courses by physicians, administrators, and other health professionals, and the classes in Atlanta were complemented by in-country trainings in a growing number of nations.

The organization continued to evolve over the years to adapt to the changing world environment and to meet new needs, and in 1993, the name was changed to Global Health Action to better reflect our broader purpose and global outreach. More than 15 years further on, the underlying philosophy and mission which inspired INSA's founders in 1972 are still the basis for what we do today. GHA offers health leadership and management training and helps implement community health and development programs to meet the needs of under-served communities around the world. Click here for a GHA timeline.

Still based in Atlanta as a non-profit international health and development organization, GHA has, since 1972, trained thousands of health professionals and community leaders from 97 countries.

Virginia Proctor is still going strong today as GHA’s #1 believer, supporter, and ambassador, as well as the locally-renowned “Haitian Goat Lady.”

Photo on left: With Kathleen Eidson (herself still a strong and active GHA supporter at 90+) and Ada Fort.
Photo on right: Virginia’s 90th Birthday celebration at GHA in 2008.

Philosophy

Health is a state of physical, social, mental, and spiritual well-being, not just the absence of disease.
[World Health Organization]

We believe in the power of communities to identify and address their own health needs and improve their quality of life.

We believe that the ability to have a sustainable impact on people's health and well-being must come from within the community and be based on a locally appropriate approach and resources.

We believe that the key to improving local and global health is to train, educate, and empower individuals.

We believe that training should be participatory, participant-centered, and based on adult learning principles.

We believe that mothers are the gateway to better family health.

We believe in a broader, "horizontal" strategy that strengthens overall health systems, rather than a “vertical,” single-disease focus.

We believe in partnership and collaboration. At home and internationally, we work with local community organizations, national organizations, government agencies, faith groups, and international NGOs.

We see our role as a catalyst to increase the knowledge, skills, and capacity of local leaders and organizations and as a bridge to connect different groups and levels of society.

“I have seen many international organizations come to Haiti to help, but Global Health Action is the best. Their programs are really Haitian; they teach us and build our skills so we can help ourselves for a lifetime. This is like the proverb: Give a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.” 
[Rev. Kesner Ajax, Haitian Episcopal priest, in 1999]

Graduating Community Health Workers in Darbonne, Haiti.

How We Work

Our programs and services include long-term health and development programs, regularly scheduled courses, on-going technical support, and customized trainings.

All of our programs and courses train, support, and empower individuals to make a difference in their communities, their organizations, their countries, and their own lives.

Most of the training is presented in the context of a specific topic such as community health, HIV/AIDS education, women’s health and reproductive health, maternal and child health, or youth empowerment.

Currently, we have on-going programs and projects in Haiti, China, Africa, and the U.S.

For example . . .

• Community Health and Development in Haiti
• Organizational Capacity Building and Leadership Training in Africa
• Partnerships in China
  
• Combating HIV & AIDS Close to Home
• Custom-Designed Workshops and Special Programs