2010 Esri Federal User Conference

GIS and Health (HEA)

The Role of GIS in the Environmental Public Health Tracking Network

—Craig Kassinger, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The link between environmental risk factors and chronic disease is still largely unknown yet chronic diseases are responsible for seven out of ten deaths in America. Chronic diseases impact over a third of our population and the costs of caring for people with chronic diseases account for over 75% of the nation's health care budget. The availability of data in a standardized tracking network will enable public health professionals to begin to understand possible associations between the environment and adverse health effects. The purpose of the CDC's Environmental Public Health Tracking (Tracking) Program is to provide information from a nationwide network of integrated health and environmental data that drives public health action. The Tracking Network's National Public Portal uses maps, charts, and tables to provide information on environmental exposures and adverse health. Learning Objectives At the conclusion of this session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to:

1. Describe the information gap that the National Tracking Network will be designed to fill and necessary steps for implementing Tracking networks at the state and national level.
2. Learn about the specific challenges of displaying environmental and health outcome data on a public web portal.
3. Describe the current technical environment and possible future directions of the Tracking Network.