The use of remote sensing and geographic information systems in UNICEF's dracunculiasis (Guinea worm) eradication effort

Abstract

Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) is a parasitic disease which is endemic in 18 African and two Asian countries. It has a marked potential for eradication by a combination of water supply management, health education and controlled medical intervention. While data on the disease are, in many cases, both in short supply and unreliable, increasingly the tools of remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) are becoming important components of the eradication effort. In particular, remotely sensed data from LANDSAT have allowed the identification and location of remote and small settlements in dracunculiasis-endemic areas. When coupled with additional information available in remotely sensed data from LANDSAT, and when used in conjunction with a GIS containing digitized maps and field data collected from hand-held global positioning system receivers, the eradication effort has developed an epidemiological tool of potential power. While at first this system is finding uses in managing existing data in a unified inventory, the system shows potential for use as an effective management decision-making tool as the control effort moves from disease reduction to disease eradication. This paper will use a single province within one country, the Zou Province of Benin, to demonstrate the varied data sources involved in the system, the software and hardware components of the system, and to discuss the specific problems involved in using the system in the field. Of particular consideration, and of potential use to other similar programs, is a consideration of the management and implementation of the system. The paper concludes that a combination of remote sensing and GIS technologies offers the epidemiologist a new and important means by which to effectively implement solutions to public health management problems.