1. Session 1.3: Examples from the Region
MODULE 1: MEDICAL GEOGRAPHY
Session 1.3: Examples from the Region

2. Geography in Public Health
The use of geography in public health helps solve issues in different public health programs such as:
Planning
Communicable diseases
Emergency management
Immunization
This session presents some overview examples of this in the Asia and the Pacific Region.
Geography in Public Health
As mentioned in the previous session, geography is an important dimension of public health and can be used to help solve public health issues. Some of the public health programs where geography can be used are:
Planning
Communicable diseases
Emergency management
Immunization
This session presents some overview examples of the use cases in the Asia and the Pacific Region.
The examples are taken from different publications on the topics presented. The links for the publications are icluded in each slide.

3. Geography in Public Health: Planning
How can geography be used in public health planning?
Mapping health resources
Identifying resources coverage
Identifying potential gaps to inform resource allocation
Geography in Public Health: Planning
How can geography be used in public health planning?
Mapping health resources
Identifying resources coverage
Identifying potential gaps to inform resource allocation

4. WHO National eHealth Strategy Toolkit
The WHO National eHealth Strategy Toolkit is an expert, practical guide that provides governments, their ministries, and stakeholders with a solid foundation and method for the development and implementation of a national eHealth vision, action plan and monitoring framework.
Although not an example of case study of geography in public health per se, it advocates and emphasizes the importance of geography in public health planning and e-health strategy.
WHO National eHealth Strategy Toolkit
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5. WHO National eHealth Strategy Toolkit
18 mention of the terms geographic or geographical
WHO National eHealth Strategy Toolkit
In this toolkit, the term geographic or geographical is mentioned 18 times.

6. EmOC Planning
Geographic accessibility analysis of emergency obstetric care (EmOC) services in Cambodia
This project, lead by WHO, assesses the accessibility coverage and geographic coverage of emergency obstetric services in Cambodia inform policy discussions on how to optimize or target the spending of the marginal dollar for maternal health at country level.
The analyses were conducted using geospatial technology particularly AccessMod. AccessMod is a WHO tool that is a free and open-source standalone software for spatial analysis and modeling.
EmOC Planning
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The analyses done for this project were made possible through the availability of the needed geospatial data.

7. Planning for a pandemic
Health care planning for pandemic influenza in Lao PDR
GIS was one of the tools used in health care planning for pandemic influenza. By exporting simulation results into GIS software, maps
geographical analysis of the distribution of resources.
The maps on the right show the estimated numbers of hospital beds and medications in response to three scenarios of pandemic influenza (mild, moderate, and severe) in Lao PDR.
Planning for a pandemic
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By using the different maps produced for this project, the Ministry of Health of Lao PDR can plan appropriately for each of the three scenarios of pandemic influenza.
Stein et al. BMC Public Health 12: 870 (2012) doi: /

8. Geography in Public Health: Communicable Disease
How can geography be used in solving communicable diseases problems?
Risk mapping – identifying potentially high risk locations
Identify the population at risk of being infected by the vector
Identifying environmental and spatial risk factors
Simulate population movement and therefore potential areas of re-infection
Support surveillance , locate, control and monitor identified cases - Laos
Support foci investigation
Manage localized outbreaks
Geography in Public Health: Communicable Disease
How can geography be used in solving communicable diseases problems?
Risk mapping – identifying potentially high risk locations
Identify the population at risk of being infected by the vector
Identifying environmental and spatial risk factors
Simulate population movement and therefore potential areas of re-infection
Support surveillance , locate, control and monitor identified cases - Laos
Support foci investigation
Manage localized outbreaks

9. Dengue Surveillance
Review: Geographical Information Systems for Dengue Surveillance
GIS is being used in dengue surveillance systems in different countries such as Philippines and Thailand.
GIS is used in mapping the distribution of dengue in a geographic area which allows instant visual identification of areas at risk and enables faster mobilization of resources.
“Maps for visualization of dengue surveillance data are particularly useful for public health professionals advocating for increased resources, such as vector control or laboratory facilities for serological confirmation of disease, because policy makers respond more positively to maps rather than raw numbers or graphs.”
Dengue Surveillance
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10. Risk Mapping of HIV/AIDS
Update on the Epidemic in Vietnam: Mapping the Risks and Drivers of HIV/AIDS
Maps were used to show prevalence of HIV/AIDS cases per province , show the correlation of HIV cases with Tuberculosis cases (as TB is one of causes of death among HIV infected people), and the relationship between the increase of infection and number of clinics in certain areas.
Risk Mapping of HIV/AIDS
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11. Malaria and Dengue Risk Mapping
Malaria and Dengue Risk Mapping and Response Planning in the Greater Mekong Subregion
This technical assistance project under the Asian Development Bank had 4 major outputs, all of which have geographic dimension:
Output 1: Provision of GIS software through the collaboration with Esri and promotion of the concept of common geo-registry and sharing of public health master lists towards the geo-enablement of health information systems.
Output 2: Geospatial data and technologies were used to develop malaria and dengue incidence and basic risk maps in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand. Analyses over space and time were conducted to determine trends in disease patterns and examine the determinants and drivers of these patterns in all 3 countries.
Malaria and Dengue Risk Mapping
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12. Malaria and Dengue Risk Mapping
Malaria and Dengue Risk Mapping and Response Planning in the Greater Mekong Subregion
Output 3: The key findings of the analyses done were used for policy recommendations while the maps and analyses produced were already being used by the countries to inform strengthening of malaria elimination and dengue control programs.
Output 4: Supported the strengthening of the malaria program's technical capacity to manage and use geospatial data and technologies in the three countries.
Malaria and Dengue Risk Mapping
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13. Geography in Public Health: Emergency Management
How can geography be used in emergency management?
Mapping of emergency or disaster-prone area
Mapping of affected population and health resources
Identifying alternative resources
Identifying potential gaps to inform future resource allocation
Geography in Public Health: Emergency Management
How can geography be used in emergency management?
Mapping of emergency or disaster-prone area
Mapping of affected population and health resources
Identifying alternative resources
Identifying potential gaps to inform future resource allocation

14. Health data collection for emergencies and disasters
Health Data Collection Before, During and After Emergencies and Disasters—The Result of the Kobe Expert Meeting
In October 2018 at the Asia Pacific Conference for Disaster Medicine (APCDM) 2018, “Health Data collection before, during and after emergencies and disasters” is one of the five proposed major Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management (H-EDRM) research areas. One of the key recommendations was to include geographical information in the collected data.
Health data collection for emergencies and disasters
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Although not an example of case study of geography in public health per se, it advocates and emphasizes the importance of geography in public health emergency management.

15. Earthquake emergency management
Case study of Chauk earthquake
As part of the pilot project of integrating geography and time in the Health Information System of Myanmar, a case study was done for the 24th August 2016 Chauk earthquake event.
By using the Peak Ground Acceleration distribution map for the earthquake and the geographic coordinates of the health facilities from the master list, it was possible to identify which health facilities had the highest probability of experiencing damages at the time of the event.
The spatial distribution of pregnant women for the same year also allows the identification of how many of them are located in the same PGA zone.
Earthquake emergency management
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This is discussed in more detail in the story map for Myanmar in Session 2.3.

16. Geography in Public Health: Immunization
How can geography be used in immunization?
Mapping of emergency or disaster-prone area
Identify places (risk areas) requiring interventions/vaccinations
Asses the service delivery network and identify barriers to access/utilization
Identify gaps and/or inequities in immunization coverage
Setup vaccination strategy for optimal vaccine performance
Monitor spatial performance of the vaccination program
Assess spatial impact of vaccination on health outcomes
Identify spatially related predictors of the performance of vaccination on health outcomes
Geography in Public Health: Immunization
How can geography be used in immunization?
Mapping of emergency or disaster-prone area
Identify places (risk areas) requiring interventions/vaccinations
Asses the service delivery network and identify barriers to access/utilization
Identify gaps and/or inequities in immunization coverage
Setup vaccination strategy for optimal vaccine performance
Monitor spatial performance of the vaccination program
Assess spatial impact of vaccination on health outcomes
Identify spatially related predictors of the performance of vaccination on health outcomes

17. Improving Immunization in Pakistan
Use of geospatial technology to improve immunization in Pakistan
The Expanded Program on Immunisation (EPI) of Pakistan enlisted the help of the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) to solve the problem of low geographic coverage and low performance of field vaccinators.
E-Vaccs is an immunization information system with an accompanying smartphone application for vaccinators. Field vaccinators have to check in at 3 different locations and provide geo-tagged and time-stamped information.
Improving Immunization in Pakistan
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Because the attendance of field vaccinators could now be monitored properly, the attendance improved drastically from a mere 36% to a staggering 94%.

18. Improving Immunization in Pakistan
Use of geospatial technology to improve immunization in Pakistan
To address the low geographical coverage of rural areas, PITB came up with a dashboard with color-coded maps which are used to see the broader overview of immunization performance in each district.
Using these maps to ensure that vaccinators cover areas with low immunization performance, geographical coverage ended up increasing from 25% in 2014 to 88% in 2016.
Improving Immunization in Pakistan
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19. Immunization Planning in Myanmar
Use of geospatial data and technology for Immunization Planning in Myanmar
The Myanmar Central Expanded Programme of Immunization (cEPI) is using WHO's Reaching Every Community Strategy to vaccinate every child in the country. In this strategy, the development of a microplan based on the population information in the catchment areas of the health workers is an important tool to ensure effective coverage and equity.
Immunization Planning in Myanmar
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Several trainings were conducted to strengthen the technical capacity of the Myanmar EPI program when it comes to geospatial data and technologies.

20. Immunization Planning in Myanmar
Use of geospatial data and technology for Immunization Planning in Myanmar
The use of proper geospatial data management practices helps in:
identifying inequities in vaccination coverage and health outcomes
addressing existing gaps in service delivery by optimally deploying available resources with minimum waste
effectively monitoring progresses toward national and global development targets
Immunization Planning in Myanmar
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21. Other examples
What other examples of the use of geography in public health do you know?
In what other public health programs is geography used?
Discuss with each other how else can public health benefit from the integration of geography.
Other examples
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