Health Disaster Risk Assessment Using GIS and Remote Sensing Techniques: A Case Study of Malaria

Abstract

Malaria, curable and preventable, is a life threatening disease and also can be regarded as a concurrent health disaster. This disease is greatly influenced by environmental factors such as temperature, rainfall, humidity and altitude which affect the survival and longevity of the vector mosquito, and the presence of water bodies which are breeding sites. Advancement in GIS and remote sensing has brought about an improved spatial analysis through the integrated use of GIS capabilities particularly in the health areas. It has also brought the development of a new approach of dealing with diseases including malaria. This paper reviewed published works on the various ways in which GIS and remote sensing have been applied in the identification of malaria risk areas. From the review, it was discovered that GIS and remote sensing have been applied in the identification of malaria risk areas including GIS and remote sensing as sources of spatial data in the form of satellite imageries from remotely sensed data; extraction of information on environmental factors that affect malaria risk, several spatial analysis including buffer zone generation, overlay analysis, DEM generation; mapping and predictive modelling of malaria risk areas using techniques like Bayesian modelling and krigging.

Keywords: GIS, Remote sensing, Bayesian modelling, Krigging, Spatial analysis, Buffer zone generation