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Public
Health Activities of Conference Sponsors
The
Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has used GIS to
protect the health of persons living near hazardous waste sites
and to identify areas of potential concern resulting from the accidental
release of chemicals in the environment. Demographic analyses are
routinely conducted to determine the number of persons living within
one mile of a hazardous waste site, and analysis of age, sex, and
race population statistics assists in the identification of persons
with potentially enhanced susceptibility to the effects of hazardous
substances based on ethnicity, age, or socioeconomic status. ATSDR
also uses GIS to determine past and future exposure potential, analyze
health data, and investigate potential exposure to hazardous substances
at the local, regional, and national scale.
The
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) is the nation's prevention agency dedicated
to the promotion of health and quality of life through the prevention
and control of disease, injury, and disability. CDC has offices
across the United States and around the world conducting research
to reduce human disease to improve human health. The uses of GIS
technology and GIS-based surveillance activities at CDC have grown
steadily over the last decade. These activities range from the active
surveillance of acute and infectious diseases to the development
and maintenance of georeferenced national health databases at CDC
headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia and in Hyattsville, Maryland. Researchers
at CDC are currently using GIS, global positioning systems (GPS),
and remote sensing technologies for work on malaria, neurocysticercosis,
Chagas Disease, onchocerciasis, Guinea Worm, plague, dengue, arboviral
encephalitis, and Rift Valley fever. Other projects include research
on Lyme disease, environmental risks of childhood lead exposures,
occupational health and related injuries, and many other investigations
to protect public health. GIS is responsible for a new era in epidemiologic
exploration and discovery at CDC, especially as US state and local
health departments continue to become GIS empowered. GIS, and the
science of GIS, is advancing the mission of CDC to protect public
health.
The
US Census Bureau is the nation’s
lead statistical agency and a primary producer and user of both
geographic and statistical data. The Census Bureau collects, tabulates,
and disseminates most of the social and economic statistics that
provide the framework for the fair distribution of legislative representation
and federal funds and serves as the basis for effective policy decisions
and business plans. Importantly for users of geographic information
systems technology, all of the Census Bureau's extensive demographic,
economic, and social data sets are linked to one of the nation's
largest digital geographic databases. The Census Bureau's TIGER®
database enables the automated integration of census data for all
legal and spatial statistical entities in the US and its territories.
The Census Bureau offers public health decision-makers
an extensive array of statistical and geographic resources useful
for GIS analysis at all levels of geography from the census block
to the Nation. Health professionals can use the address matching
and geocoding capabilities of GIS software to link non-census health
and environmental databases with census geography and statistics.
Ongoing developments at the Census Bureau to continually update
and maintain an integrated Master Address File and the TIGER®
database for Census 2000 should promote even greater use and reliability
of TIGER for GIS spatial and statistical analysis in the US public
health community. Access to the many Census Bureau resources (http://www.census.gov)
is being further enhanced for Census 2000 through its Data Access
and Dissemination System. TIGER/Line®
files, census boundary files, and Landview software are only a few
of the many geographic products available that can support the needs
of the public health community. The Census Bureau welcomes the opportunity
to make the public health community aware of its vast, publicly
available statistical and geographic resources and promote collaboration
on vital areas of national and local concern with partners in the
health and environmental disciplines.
The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
makes extensive use of GIS to support a wide variety of agency activities,
including risk assessment, environmental justice analyses, and ecological
assessments. Environmental information is inherently geographic
in nature, and virtually all environmental assessments require the
location of a contaminant source or other environmental stressor
and the estimation of levels of exposures, and resultant impacts,
to humans and/or other species. Examples of spatially referenced
features used in environmental assessments include identifying point
sources of pollution such as industries and power generating facilities;
identifying area sources of pollution such as highways and septic
tank fields; and locating monitoring wells and other types of air
and water sampling sites. Other examples of location-based environmental
data developed or used by EPA include the delineation of wetlands
and other sensitive habitats; detecting contaminant transport through
the air, soil, or ground and surface water; locating underground
storage tanks and hazardous waste sites; and locating and delineating
areas inhabited by people. These and other geographic features of
interest can be depicted on maps and used in GIS-based analyses
to identify areas of environmental concern. They can also be used
to evaluate their spatial relationship to populations of humans
and other species and to habitats of interest.
The
U. S. Geological Survey (USGS)
provides the nation with reliable, impartial information to describe
and understand the earth. This information is used to minimize the
loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water,
biological, energy, and mineral resources; enhance and protect the
quality of life; and contribute to wise economic and physical development.
To collect this information, the USGS uses a wide variety of ground,
aerial, and space-borne sensors as well as geographic information
systems technology to combine and analyze disparate data sets in
a common geographic framework. USGS operates national networks of
water gauging and quality stations, seismic stations, and other
monitoring equipment. USGS maintains the largest civilian archive
of aerial photographs and satellite images and processes and distributes
digital imagery from NOAA, NASA, and military satellites. Drawing
on its knowledge of the physical environment and using the methods
of geographic analysis, the USGS seeks to increase the level of
understanding of the environmental contributions to diseases and
to identify chronic health issues that may relate directly to earth
processes and the environment. USGS wants to assess outbreaks of
waterborne and water-related pathogens and environmental contaminants
that adversely affect human health; and determine the occurrence,
distribution, and transport of substances that may impact human
health through direct exposure or bioaccumulation in the food chain.
USGS welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with partners in the
health disciplines to increase our scientific understanding of the
relationships between the environment and public health.
The American Public Health Association
(APHA) is the oldest and largest organization of public
health professionals in the world, representing more than 50,000
members from over 50 occupations of public health. APHA is concerned
with a broad set of issues affecting personal and environmental
health, including federal and state funding for health programs,
pollution control, programs and policies related to chronic and
infectious diseases, a smoke-free society by the year 2000, and
professional education in public health. As a part of its annual
meetings, APHA has developed hands-on workshops and conference sessions
on the use of GIS in public health surveillance and to protect public
health. APHA actively serves the public, its members, and the public
health profession through its scientific and practice programs,
publications, annual meeting, and advocacy efforts.
The
American Society of Civil Engineers
serves the civil engineering community and society at large through
education, publications, and other opportunities to advance the
science and practice of civil engineering. In particular, the Environmental
Engineering Division, ASCE, is promoting innovative means of looking
at and solving complex environmental issues. One of the most difficult
and time consuming tasks in environmental public health engineering
is that of estimating or obtaining exposure information. The use
of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology provides opportunities
to study the spatial distribution of environmental exposures. Because
GIS can be used to combine and overlay data from a variety of sources,
data from existing databases, exposure models, and population information
from the census can be shown together to give an accurate estimate
of where people are exposed and how much they are exposed. ASCE
has recognized how valuable a tool a GIS can be to the environmental
engineer. In fact, the June 1998, ASCE National Conference on Environmental
Engineering Conference, will highlight two sessions of technical
papers devoted to the topic of GIS in environmental public health
engineering.
The
Association of State and Territorial Health
Officials (ASTHO) is organized as a 501 (c)3 non-profit
association that represents the public health agencies of each of
the U.S. states and territories. ASTHO is engaged in a wide range
of legislative, scientific, educational, and programmatic issues
and activities on behalf of public health. Information exchange
and training in GIS through partnerships with agencies like ATSDR
make it possible for health professionals to keep informed on technologies
to protect public health.
The
faculty and staff associated with the Geomatics Engineering Program
at California State University, Fresno
(Fresno State) have established an extensive record in the GIS research
and services area. Fresno State's Geomatics Research Center, a part
of Fresno State's Engineering and Computer Science Research Institute,
has provided the facilitative environment for projects related to
solid and hazardous waste site mapping and cleanup. Other active
research programs include ground water quality mapping, resolving
property boundary problems for the California Department of Parks
and Recreation, and creating systems of geodetic ground control
points for local and state agencies who then use the control points
to generate their own GIS databases.
Fresno State's Geomatics Research Center continues
to provide leadership in advancing the technology in the GIS area
through on-going research for the California Department of Transportation
that is developing real time mapping systems and advancing the use
of digital imaging. This work is revolutionizing the way in which
GIS data are being created and used.
The
National Association of County and City
Health Officials (NACCHO) is the national voice of local
health officials and is dedicated to improving and protecting the
public's health by increasing the capacity of local health departments
(LHDs) to fulfill the core function of public health: assessment,
policy development and assurance. NACCHO serves all of the 2,932
LHDs nationwide; this includes county, city, and district health
departments. NACCHO's work focuses on providing education, training
and technical assistance aimed at ensuring the public's health
GIS is one tool that is used in fulfilling this role. In addition,
NACCHO serves as a communication vehicle among local, state and
federal public health and environmental health agencies, allowing
NACCHO to promote GIS and share successes.
Although NACCHO has identified a number of local
health departments involved in integrating public health prevention
programs and GIS applications, few local health departments have
brought the two tools together. NACCHO believes that an important
first step is to ensure all of our members have a basic understanding
of GIS and the opportunities it offers. For many LHDs, NACCHO's
activities may be their first introduction to GIS concepts. Because
public health professionals are not actively involved in the design
and application of local GIS systems used by other agencies, public
health prevention implications are often not adequately considered
in such areas as land-use planning, zoning decisions, and environmental
compliance activities.
Currently, NACCHO is increasing local health department
awareness and understanding of the potential uses of GIS though
the pollution prevention project by highlighting uses of GIS applications
to stimulate the integration of pollution prevention practices into
local public health programs. In addition, NACCHO is exploring integration
of GIS into other projects, such as the community environmental
health assessment project.
The
National Association of Local Boards
of Health (NALBOH) was formed in 1992 to provide a national
voice for the concerns of local boards of health and to assist local
boards of health in obtaining the knowledge, skills, and abilities
necessary to protect and promote public health in their communities.
NALBOH recognized that this lack of information was hampering its
ability to effectively accomplish its mission. Through education
and outreach, NALBOH serves to disseminate information on research
and evaluation tools like GIS to local health boards, which can
enable health professionals to more effectively serve their communities.
The
National Center for Geographic Information
and Analysis (NCGIA) is a consortium comprised of the University
of California at Santa Barbara, the State University of New York
at Buffalo, and the University of Maine, with funding from the National
Science Foundation. Researchers affiliated with the NCGIA at University
of California Santa Barbara, conduct basic research in geographic
analysis using GIS. Completed and current research initiatives include:
accuracy of spatial databases; languages of spatial relations; multiple
representations; use and value of geographic information; large
spatial databases; spatial decision support systems; visualization
of spatial data quality; formalizing cartographic knowledge; institutions
sharing geographic information; spatio-temporal reasoning in GIS;
integration of remote sensing and GIS; user interfaces for GIS;
GIS and spatial analysis; multiple roles for GIS in US global change
research; law, information policy and spatial databases; and collaborative
spatial decision-making.
NCGIA has also has completed several major GIS
education projects. The NCGIA Core Curriculum in GIS, a 3 volume
set of lecture notes, was the result of a two-year collaborative
project between GIS educators in North America, the United Kingdom
and Australia. It has now been translated into 8 languages and is
in use worldwide. Recently, the Center has been supporting a Secondary
Education Project which seeks to help teachers teach about and with
GIS. Because of NCGIA's continued success in providing educational
opportunities for career professionals in GIS, NCGIA will conduct
two preconference workshops at this year's conference.
GIS in Public Health Conference Local Host
As
the local host for the GIS in Public Health conference, San
Diego State University (SDSU) offers one of the premier
GIS/remote sensing programs in the United States. GIS activity at
SDSU is largely housed in the Department of Geography's Center for
Earth Systems Analysis Research (CESAR). CESAR specializes in applying
state-of-the-art technology in image processing, remote sensing,
GIS, automated cartography, and numerical modeling to problems with
a spatial dimension. Research conducted by a core of six faculty,
four full-time staff members, and thirty-five Masters and Ph.D.
research assistants is directed at both applied and fundamental
problems in fields ranging from biophysical remote sensing to environmental
planning, including spatial statistics in epidemiology and environmental
analysis. Recent projects have focused on environmental problem
solving along the United States/Mexico border with emphasis on the
San Diego - Tijuana interface. Researchers in the Geography Department,
the Graduate School of Public Health, and Mexican universities are
collaborating on a variety of GIS projects, including an examination
of the impact of wastewater flows on human and environmental health
and modeling industrial air pollutant emissions and environmental
risk in Tijuana. With El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, a GIS is
being used for education and research in the Tijuana River Watershed.
Also, the Graduate School of Public Health is working with the Autonomous
University of Baja California to model the interactions of land
use precipitation and hydrologic processes in the Tijuana River
Watershed via a basin-wide watershed approach to better understand
the spatial and temporal nature of stormwater quality. For this
project the researchers are using GIS-based modeling to explore,
display and analyze the spatial dimension of such interactions,
and to identify the major sources of toxic loading in the watershed
for future planning and control efforts. Many of these projects
have been supported by monies provided by the Southwest Center for
Environmental Research and Policy and the Environmental Protection
Agency via SDSU's Institute for Regional Studies of the Californias.
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