On January 15, 2014, Val D. Bias, NHF CEO, and Eddie Williams, Senior Vice President of Biopharmaceuticals, and Robert Gut, Vice President of Clinical Development & Medical Affairs, Biopharmaceuticals from Novo Nordisk announced the launch of the newly created NHF Novo Nordisk HANDI Library. The announcement was made during a special ribbon-cutting ceremony at NHF’s offices in NYC. The HANDI Library, created by NHF in 1991, contains the largest collection of information on hemophilia and bleeding disorders in the world.

Through a generous contribution from Novo Nordisk in 2013, making the global healthcare company the exclusive sponsor of the HANDI Library, NHF has undertaken a modernization effort to update and digitize the information in the HANDI Library. This will allow HANDI’s information specialists to continue to provide the most up-to-date information on hemophilia and other bleeding disorders, and make its response time to electronic requests more efficient.

“HANDI has now reached a point in its evolution where technological improvements play a crucial role in its future,” said Bias. “With the capabilities of the Internet and social networking, it is imperative for HANDI to convert its written materials into electronic format to facilitate quicker response rates to patients with bleeding disorders here in the US and throughout the world.”

During the past 20 years, HANDI has amassed a resource collection that now consists of more than 13,000 items. This collection is the premier resource library in the US and around the world. The HANDI resource center processes approximately 4,500 requests for information annually. HANDI information specialists access and use the most up-to-date article reprints, textbooks, educational publications, CD-ROMs and videos to answer requests.

The HANDI Library has been funded through cooperative agreements with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. NHF was pleased to mark this celebratory occasion and is grateful to Novo Nordisk for the generous support for this important project.