Services Availability Mapping (SAM)

:: View full size map [jpg 605kb] Location of antiretroviral treatment (ART) sites in Uganda, March 2005

With WHO’s Measurement and Health Information Systems (MHI) Department, the WHO Regional Office for Africa and country offices, the Public Health Mapping and GIS programme provided technical support and training for the SAM surveys that have been completed in Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia.

The objective of SAM is to rapidly assess the availability and coverage of specific public and private health interventions and resources in a given district and its health facilities. Questionnaires are administered using Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and facility coordinates are taken using Global Positioning System (GPS) devices.

Information is collected on health care resources and priority health services for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and maternal health. The results are uploaded into the HealthMapper for immediate feedback, analysis and decision-making.

Similar surveys are being planned with support from the Public Health Mapping and GIS programme in Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria Mozambique, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania.

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