18 research outputs found

    AccessMod 3.0: computing geographic coverage and accessibility to health care services using anisotropic movement of patients

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Access to health care can be described along four dimensions: geographic accessibility, availability, financial accessibility and acceptability. Geographic accessibility measures how physically accessible resources are for the population, while availability reflects what resources are available and in what amount. Combining these two types of measure into a single index provides a measure of geographic (or spatial) coverage, which is an important measure for assessing the degree of accessibility of a health care network.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This paper describes the latest version of AccessMod, an extension to the Geographical Information System ArcView 3.Ă—, and provides an example of application of this tool. AccessMod 3 allows one to compute geographic coverage to health care using terrain information and population distribution. Four major types of analysis are available in AccessMod: (1) modeling the coverage of catchment areas linked to an existing health facility network based on travel time, to provide a measure of physical accessibility to health care; (2) modeling geographic coverage according to the availability of services; (3) projecting the coverage of a scaling-up of an existing network; (4) providing information for cost effectiveness analysis when little information about the existing network is available. In addition to integrating travelling time, population distribution and the population coverage capacity specific to each health facility in the network, AccessMod can incorporate the influence of landscape components (e.g. topography, river and road networks, vegetation) that impact travelling time to and from facilities. Topographical constraints can be taken into account through an anisotropic analysis that considers the direction of movement. We provide an example of the application of AccessMod in the southern part of Malawi that shows the influences of the landscape constraints and of the modes of transportation on geographic coverage.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>By incorporating the demand (population) and the supply (capacities of heath care centers), AccessMod provides a unifying tool to efficiently assess the geographic coverage of a network of health care facilities. This tool should be of particular interest to developing countries that have a relatively good geographic information on population distribution, terrain, and health facility locations.</p

    Modelling the spatial distribution of five natural hazards in the context of the WHO/EMRO Atlas of Disaster Risk as a step towards the reduction of the health impact related to disasters

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    BACKGROUND: Reducing the potential for large scale loss of life, large numbers of casualties, and widespread displacement of populations that can result from natural disasters is a difficult challenge for the individuals, communities and governments that need to respond to such events. While it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to predict the occurrence of most natural hazards; it is possible to take action before emergency events happen to plan for their occurrence when possible and to mitigate their potential effects. In this context, an Atlas of Disaster Risk is under development for the 21 Member States that constitute the World Health Organization's (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean (EM) Region and the West Bank and Gaza Strip territory. METHODS AND RESULTS: This paper describes the Geographic Information System (GIS) based methods that have been used in order to create the first volume of the Atlas which looks at the spatial distribution of 5 natural hazards (flood, landslide, wind speed, heat and seismic hazard). It also presents the results obtained through the application of these methods on a set of countries part of the EM Region before illustrating how this type of information can be aggregated for decision making. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The methods presented in this paper aim at providing a new set of tools for GIS practitioners to refine their analytical capabilities when examining natural hazards, and at the same time allowing users to create more specific and meaningful local analyses. The maps resulting from the application of these methods provides decision makers with information to strengthen their disaster management capacity. It also represents the basis for the reflection that needs to take place regarding populations' vulnerability towards natural hazards from a health perspective

    Utilisation d'un SIG en mode raster pour la spatialisation du bilan hydrique Ă  l'Ă©chelle mensuelle : application au bassin versant de l'Allondon (France, Suisse)

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    Le présent travail traite du développement d'une approche permettant la spatialisation du bilan hydrique à l'échelle du bassin versant en utilisant les Systèmes d'Information Géoréféré (SIG). Cette spatialisation passe par la connaissance de la répartition de l'intensité des différents processus suivants : les précipitations, l'interception, l'infiltration, le ruissellement et l'évapotranspiration. L'échelle temporelle retenue est le mois, afin d'appréhender la variabilité de l'intensité des différents flux. Une maille très fine de résolution de 25 mètres a permis de modéliser spatialement les différentes variables retenues en mode raster. Le mode vecteur a été utilisé afin d'obtenir une grande précision lors de la création des différents documents constituant ainsi la base de données. Les outils SIG principalement employés dans le cadre de cette étude sont les logiciels IDRISI, ARC/INFO et ArcView. Le basin versant de l'Allondon, situé au nord-ouest de Genève, a été choisi afin de tester l'applicabilité de cette approche

    Éléments hydrogéologiques dans l'étude de l'influence de deux décharges sur le système aquifère de la plaine du Rhône (Valais central, Suisse)

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    The aim of this publication is to contribute to the knowledge of a part of the Rhône plain alluvial system under the influence of two landfills. The hydrogeological environment of this zone is described using topographic, geologic, climatic and hydrologic information, allowing a 3D approach. This analysis confirms the complexity of the ground water flows of the aquifer between Sierre and Granges. The great diversity of the anthropogenic or natural element sources are responsible for the 3D heterogeneity of the water quality observed in this aquifer.Le but de cette présente publication est d'apporter une contribution à la connaissance d'une partie du système alluvial de la plaine du Rhône placée sous I'influence de deux décharges. L'environnement hydrogéologique de cette zone est décrit sur la base d'informations topographiques, géologiques, climatiques et hydrologiques permettant une approche en trois dimensions. Cette analyse confirme la complexité des écoulements souterrains de l’aquifère entre Sierre et Granges. La grande variété des sources en éléments naturels ou anthropogènes sont à l'origine de l'hétérogénéité 3D de la qualité de l'eau rencontrée dans cet aquifère

    From wealth to health: modelling the distribution of income per capita at the sub-national level using night-time light imagery

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    Abstract Background Sub-national figures providing information about the wealth of the population are useful in defining the spatial distribution of both economic activity and poverty within any given country. Furthermore, since several health indicators such as life expectancy are highly correlated with household welfare, sub-national figures allow for the estimation of the distribution of these health indicators within countries when direct measurement is difficult. We have developed methods that utilize spatially distributed information, including night-time light imagery and population to model the distribution of income per capita, as a proxy for wealth, at the country and sub-national level to support the estimation of the distribution of correlated health indicators. Results A first set of analysis are performed in order to propose a new global model for the prediction of income per capita at the country level. A second set of analysis is then confirming the possibility to transfer the country level approach to the sub-national level on a country by country basis before underlining the difficulties to create a global or regional models for the extrapolation of sub-national figures when no country data set exists. Conclusions The methods described provide promising results for the extrapolation of national and sub-national income per capita figures. These results are then discussed in order to evaluate if the proposed methods could not represent an alternative approach for the generation of consistent country specific and/or global poverty maps disaggregated to some sub-national level.</p

    Contribution of a GIS in the spatial modelling of the hydrologic balance of Allondon watershed (France, Switzerland)

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    Etablissement d'un modèle conceptuel pour l'établissement d'un bilan hydrique sur un bassin versant complexe et application 3D à travers un SIG sur le bassin versant de l'Allondon (Suisse, France, Plateau Suisse, Jur
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