 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Tayla C. Colton, SM, Technical Services, Pathfinder International, 9 Galen Street, Suite 217, Watertown, MA 02472, 617-924-7200, ghainsworth@pathfind.org, Kamrul Ahsan, MSc, Bangladesh Office, Pathfinder International, 9 Galen Street, Suite 217, Watertown, MA 02472, and A.K.M. Towfique Aziz, MSc, Pathfinder International, 9 Galen Street, Suite 217, Watertown, MA 02472.
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have long been used for environmental mapping, but are increasingly used in public health to track diseases or establish emergency response systems. The NGO Service Delivery Program (NSDP) supports 41 local NGOs to deliver clinic and community-based maternal, child, and reproductive health services throughout Bangladesh. Major objectives of NSDP are to expand the range, improve quality, and increase use of health services provided by NGOs. Strong national, district, and community referral networks are crucial to meeting these objectives.
An initial assessment suggested that mapping of existing health services was a first step in formalizing the referral network, and ultimately, increasing access to and use of services. It was hypothesized that by establishing a GIS, NSDP NGO managers and providers would have an accurate visual representation of major health facility locations (NGO, private, and public) and available services, so they could better refer NSDP clients. The visual information is backed by a database, showing service statistics, and other information about the facility, such as staffing. The NSDP GIS has the potential to improve service delivery by showing managers and providers the location of existing services to create referral networks, increasing access to services by identifying and correcting overlaps or gaps in service delivery, and assisting in program monitoring. In this presentation, the methods used to establish the NSDP GIS will be discussed, as well as initial results on how the GIS is used to improve services, and the impact of the GIS on NSDP service delivery.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Geographic Information Systems, Service Delivery
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.