Geographical Information System Utilization in Health Care System of Pakistan

Abstract

Geographical Information System (GIS) is computer software used for collection, storage, transformation, retrieval and display of geo spatial data from the real GIS world. The geographical data represent the real world in terms of their position with respect to a known coordinate system, their attributes and their geographical relationship with other objects. GIS utilization is being recognized as having the potential to improve the health of that specific population. GIS contributes in policy making, monitoring, implementation, and research in health sector. Need of population according to information provided by the GIS can be determined, which gives a quick and comprehensive review of regional and geographical health problems so that policy makers can utilize this for policy making and for forecasting the epidemics and other community health problems by using GIS. GIS system is a powerful and effective tool for creating intelligent/guide maps for, e.g., location of local health facilities, trauma centers, and specialized hospitals. It’s easy to purchase the GIS (hardware and software), but its proper utilization is a big task for the organizations to achieve their specific goals.