Geospatial Technologies – A tool to fight the spread of Infectious Diseases

In a world of shrinking borders and the rapid movement of people between countries, it is easy for infectious diseases to take hold and to spread. As such, policymakers are finding that they have to utilize all the available  resources at their disposal to prevent the transmission, across borders,  of communicable, debilitating and in some cases, fatal diseases such as ZikV, the Chikungunya Virus, H1N1, Dengue and Ebola to name a few.

Increasingly they are finding that geospatial technology is a powerful tool in the fight against these dreaded diseases and in the quest to improve public health.

It is with the goal of increasing awareness about the benefits of GIS technology to the Health Sector that the National Spatial Data Management Division, (NSDMD), a Division of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation is launching its  14^th annual observance of Geographic Information Systems Day, and the 10^th Geography Awareness Week.  The theme for this year’s observation is “Geospatial Technologies : Advancing Public Health Services”.

According to Rohan Richards, Principal Director of the NSDMD, Geospatial Technologies may be utilized by the health sector to study the spatial relationships in vector borne illnesses such as ChikV and ZikV, in order to reduce transmission.  It may also be used to support surveillance, monitoring and evaluation of these diseases.

“We have seen how useful the technology can be in areas such disaster preparedness and emergency management to support effective response and relief efforts, with the work undertaken by the National Emergency GIS Response Team and we want to extend this to the health service sector.”

GIS will provide policy makers with a comprehensive outline to better  analyse epidemiological indicators.  It will enable them to capture the spatial distribution and severity of a disease, identify trends and patterns, and indicate where limited resources need to be placed.

GIS Day and Geography Awareness week will be launched on May 4, 2016.  However, the week of activities will be celebrated in November beginning with the GIS Business Executive Seminar on Wednesday November, 9 2016   and the main event being a GIS Day Expo on Wednesday November 16, 2016  on GIS Day.

Simone Lloyd, Senior GIS Trainer within the NSDMD and GIS Day Coordinator explains that “this early Launch will also be used as an opportunity to engage crucial stakeholders early so that there is increased support and participation especially from the health sector”

The winners of the Sustainable Development Map Competition held during GIS Day 2015 will be also awarded. In addition, The Ministry will launch the GIS Enterprise Licence Agreement for Schools, which will give access of GIS Software to government dependent-schools under the GIS in Schools Education Programme.