Geography of Disease Burden: Case Studies in Namibia and Eritrea

Peter M Atkinson,Victor A Alegana

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-63471-1_3

Abstract

AbstractAfrica continues to experience the highest infectious disease burden despite an increase in investments. These include investments in malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, as well as in communicable diseases. The global targets are to reduce the burden of these diseases through improved surveillance, prevention of outbreaks, effective case management, elimination and eventually, eradication. Achieving these targets, however, is limited by the poor geographic descriptions of the disease burden. Of the big five infectious disease burdens, malaria is the most advanced in terms of mapping its distribution. Malaria cartography has since formed the evidence-base for the design of many national malaria control programmes. This chapter focuses on malaria as an example, demonstrating its geographical descriptions. The availability of georeferenced malaria case data whether based on prevalence or incidence indicators has been used extensively in the mapping of geographical extents at national and sub-national scales. However, routine surveillance data is emerging as a valuable methodology of tracking burden in sub-Saharan Africa. A particular focus of this chapter is the use of routine national health systems surveillance data to describe, at a fine-scale, the distribution of malaria. However, routine data can be applied to the cartographic description of other diseases beyond malaria. The methodological aspects of burden estimation from routine surveillance platforms and cartography are highlighted.

Highlights

Thegeography of disease mapping in Africa stems back to 1951 following publication of atlas of diseases in Africa after the Second World War (Simmons et al 1951)
The last decade has seen a transformation in Health Management Information System (HMIS) data in Africa
Most African nations have operational digital and georeferenced Health Management Information Systems (HMIS), meaning that the ensemble of HMIS represents a powerful lens through which to assess the health of the people of Africa as a whole

Summary

Introduction

Thegeography of disease mapping in Africa stems back to 1951 following publication of atlas of diseases in Africa after the Second World War (Simmons et al 1951). Prevalence or incidence are two common indices that are used frequently in the mapping of malaria (Macdonald 1950, 1957; Ray and Beljaev 1984) These indices provide epidemiological evidence of the spatial distribution of disease in the population. Since the 1990s, with advances in computation and software, maps of malaria prevalence and incidence are increasingly available at global and national scales. This chapter reports on the highlighted data and methodological advances in disease mapping along with the advantages of using routine data This contribution has important implications for future research on malaria in line with a declining burden for traditionally high malaria burden countries as well as for low-t ransmission settings. There are two broad areas concerned with determining the incidence of disease including the identification of cases (PCD) and elimination of the identified cases

Introduction to Using PCD for Mapping

Discussion

Conclusion