2004 Health GIS Conference Proceedings Abstract
Using GIS to Measure Physical Accessibility to Health Care Author(s): Michael Black, RMIT University; Steeve Ebener, World Health Organization (WHO); Manuel Vidaurre, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO); Patricia Najera Aguilar, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO); Zine El Morjani, World Health Organization (WHO) Public health and health care are important concerns for developing countries, and access to health care is a significant factor that contributes to a healthy population. In response to these issues, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been working on the development of methods and models for measuring physical accessibility to health care using several layers of information integrated in a GIS. Two of these methods are presented and compared in relation to a particular public health problem in Central America. The results of these methods are used for cost-effective analysis, population coverage estimates as well as for resource planning within countries. The paper finally discusses the benefits for better health planning and policy development through the use of these methods before describing potential improvements to the models in the future. |
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