Research Support
Health GIS Centre Projects
1. The Verification of Health Facilities and Health Administrative boundaries in South Africa
Objectives:
- To collate, standardise and document digital map data in MapInfo format of the new health administration boundaries for South Africa
- To overlay ReHMIS attribute data on this surface, evaluate the status of these data and outline what course of action would be required to update, verify and correct the data
- To access and overlay essential topographic and physical attribute data
- To geo-link the 1991 population census data for the country at census district and enumerator area (EA) level to this product and to determine the catchment population at set distances within all fixed health facilities
- To propose a dissemination mechanism to ensure maximal access and usage of the information
Data collated:
The new health regions and health districts are presented for each province, as are population distribution (1991 census data) and health facility placement (ReHMIS and additional data sets). The current status regarding the use of GIS in the provinces of South Africa is outlined as well as an overview of the data collated.
2. The Lubombo Spatial Development Initiative (LSDI)
The HGC has been actively involved in the GIS components of the LSDI. Aerial photography will be used to capture the spatial distribution of homesteads. Developing a spatial database of homesteads in an area has been shown to be useful for other development initiatives in that region, as was the case in Northern KZN. This database, consisting of more than 34000 points, was collected primarily for malaria research, but has been used extensively in the planning of new faciliities such as schools, roads and water resources.
3. Aluminium Smelter in Maputo
Billiton, the company developing the largest aluminium smelter in Maputo, approached the NMRP to assist with control of the high number of malaria cases in the region. The HGC is involved in creating the GIS platform needed to design and cost the control of malaria.
4. Prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus and Associated risk factors in a rural SA community of Zulu descent.
The HGC is providing GIS support in the sampling stages of this project, using the spatial distribution of homesteads in the Ubombo district
5. Birth to Ten Project
The HGC is collaborating with the National Urbanisation and Health Programme of the MRC to look at the methododlogy involved the spatial distribution of subjects in Soweto.
6. Mapping of Tuberculosis Data
Preliminary investigations are underway to look into the feasibility of spatially displaying the TB database available at King George V hospital, and of classifying the cases according to settlement area boundaries.
7. Household Environment and Health in Port Elizabeth
The HGC is providing GIS support to the Urbanisation and Health Programme by mapping data from the above study, and, in the longer term, will look at the correlation of data to the 1996 census socio-economic variables.
8. Boland/ Overberg Parasite Control Pilot Project
The HGC is collaborating with the National Research Programme for Nutritional Intervention on the above project. This will involve assisting with the sample selection of schools, and mapping parasite infestation prevalence data.
9. Equity in Health in SA: Geographic inequities and indicators for monitoring progress.
The Health GIS Centre (HGC) sees its collaborative efforts as being two-fold:
- as full collaborators, from the outset, in projects that have a spatial component;
- and secondly, providing a service to research projects which recognise the need for spatial analysis