Use and potential of geographic information systems for health
mapping in the Eastern Mediterranean Region
(By
Najeeb Al-Shorbaji, PhD
Coordinator, Knowledge Management and Sharing, WHO/EMRO)
The importance of health mapping, in association with health indicators, monitoring and evaluation, as an e-health application is growing at a very rapid rate to support health systems development. WHO has been using mapping techniques coupled with surveillance to monitor the global health situation and present it through user-friendly and modern tools such as geographic information systems. Public health mapping utilizes the technology of geographic information systems to add value to information for public health planning and decision making. The role of health mapping has many aspects and influences the performance of health systems in many ways. It improves the ability of decision-makers, planners, academicians, researchers and health care professionals to organize and link thematic and spatial datasets. It provides the ability to create relations between datasets that may seem unrelated without using the geographical dimension. These links help in discovering and creating new health knowledge which can be translated into action or policies. Mapping enables professionals to understand complex spatial relationships visually, and as planning has an element of informed prediction, mapping can be a powerful tool for forecasting and trend analysis. Communities can share the same knowledge about their own health and development issues.
