Public Health

GIS is becoming a vital tool for scientists and public health officials investigating the cause and spread of deadly diseases around the world.

Outbreaks of infectious diseases such as SARS can be quickly analyzed using GIS tools. The screen shot above contains a Web site established in Hong Kong to track the locations of reported SARS cases. GIS allowed early recognition that a large multi-story residential complex was a "reservoir" for the infection.

The globalization of infectious disease makes the use of GIS critical across the healthcare system in every national health ministry.

GIS Integrates Data

For example...

• Market Data: Births, Death, Disease, Population Demographics
• Infrastructure: Buildings, Roads, Floor Plans, Nursing Units
• Internal Data: Product Lines, Patients, Utilization, Revenues
• Facilities: Hospitals, Physician Offices, Retail Health Outlets, Employer Locations
• Administrative Boundaries: Service Regions, Referral Areas, Planning Areas, Zip, Census
• Environmental: Topographic, Bio-Hazards, Toxic Sites, Infectious Disease, Air and Water Quality Testing Sites

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