GIS capabilities in the health sector: The experience of Project NOVA in Armenia

Although modern Geographic Information System (GIS) technology has been available worldwide for over a decade, most public health agencies have not incorporated it into their routine practice. Often GIS appears unreasonably complex and overwhelming to public health professionals. In the Republic of Armenia GIS is in its nascent stage and its application for the health field is extremely rare. Project NOVA, a USAID-funded initiative in Armenia, has started to apply a series of innovative approaches, including GIS, to improve reproductive, maternal and child healthcare in rural areas. It developed a GIS-compatible coding system for all communities and healthcare facilities in Armenia, as well as combined different datasets into one unified information system in order to share and exchange data and promote mapping activities. ESRI ArcGIS software was used for mapping and spatial analysis based on attributes like population size, facility type, and a performance quality index. GIS has been integrated through a user-friendly interface and informative maps with a MySQL database to provide extensive information obtained during different project activities and studies. Some interactive web-based maps also have been created and are currently available on the Internet. Particularly, maps of Armenian communities by type and by population size and structure as well as networks of health care facilities were developed to assist in the process of selection of Project NOVA activity areas. Facilities, supported by the project, were mapped to visualize and analyze the correlation between the physical location of facilities and their performance. Partially as a result of these efforts, plans are underway to introduce and institutionalize the use of GIS at the Armenian Ministry of Health. Integration of GIS into Armenian healthcare system is an important step towards the development of an effective national health management information system instrument in policy formulation, data-driven decision-making, planning, monitoring and evaluation.