Modified human population maps in the rural environment to improve health risk management against acute influenza in Taiwan

Human population map are use for generating disease cases and health resources, national and local scales to help guide health priority setting in risk management. The mapping application should be aware the accuracy of the demographic information used. This paper proposes the modified application of Dasymetric method for reconstructing population distribution in the rural area. The technique used land-use filter and slop data to adjust the population distribution. The analysis presented in this paper test the validation against different census data in township and village level with different area weighting methods. We illustrate the significant application in health risk management, by assessing the community medical care accessibility in a rural county, Miaoli County, using this modified human population map in determining population at risk during influenza epidemic. Accuracy in estimate of population at risk of influenza epidemic in Taiwan highlights the importance of preparation of epidemic attack, other than SARS which attacked Taiwan in 2004. Despite focusing on influenza risk management, the techniques in these analyses have general application and discussed for wider context.