Satellite remote sensing imagery in public health

Abstract

Recent achievements in the remote sensing identification of chemical, physical and biological parameters of air, water and soil, as well as in the morphological resolution of parts of the environment, provide a possibility for the appliation of space sciences for the benefit of mankind to a new area of human life on Earth. This new area is public health, more precisely the epidemiology and control of some endemic diseases. The purpose of this paper is to give a brief overview of the existing fields of the application of satellite imagery and to draw the attention of the scientific community to a new outlook for the future of public health. This outlook is based on new capacities of the space remote sensing technology, which allow us to focus its application on a new field. Further, this paper discusses the methodology for the operational application and specifies public health activities which can use this methodology. Necessary actions for establishing present capacities and limitations as a formulation of the development of new techniques are proposed. The reduction of morbidity and mortality of some endemic diseases are pointed out as the overall aim of all the considerations and proposed activities in the context of the W.H.O. Strategy for Health for all by 2000.