Welcome to WHO's Public Health Mapping and GIS programme
From public health mapping and GIS to global health surveillance
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Role of GIS in public health mapping
In order to properly plan, manage and monitor any public health programme, it is vital that up-to-date, relevant information is available to decision-makers at all levels of the public health system. As every disease problem or health event requires a different response and policy decision, information must be available that reflects a realistic assessment of the situation at local, national and global levels. This must be done with best available data and taking into consideration disease transmission dynamics, demographics, availability of and accessibility to existing health and social services as well as other geographic and environmental features.
Geographic information systems (GIS) provide ideal platforms for the convergence of disease-specific information and their analyses in relation to population settlements, surrounding social and health services and the natural environment. They are highly suitable for analysing epidemiological data, revealing trends and interrelationships that would be more difficult to discover in tabular format. Moreover GIS allows policy makers to easily visualize problems in relation to existing health and social services and the natural environment and so more effectively target resources.
Since 1993, WHO’s Public Health Mapping and GIS programme has been leading a global partnership in the promotion and implementation of GIS to support decision-making for a wide range of infectious disease and public health programmes.
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