MORTALITY AND FERTILITY

GIS application in Fertility and Mortality

According to Chrisman (1999), a geographic information system (GIS) is a system for

creating, maintaining, analyzing, and mapping various types of data. GIS connects data to a map
by combining location data with other forms of descriptive data. Users can also utilize GIS to
gain a greater knowledge of patterns, connections, and the context in which they live. Similarly,
the GIS application is a powerful decision-making tool for any company or industry since it
allows for the analysis of environmental, demographic, and geographic data. A GIS application
is used in business as well as everyday life which implies to mapping, urban planning and many
more which supports data entry, data display, data management, information retrieval and
analysis. GIS may also be used to analyze demographic data like fertility and mortality. As a
result, GIS applications can provide suggestions based on maternal and newborn health data,
which can then be used as part of larger initiatives to prevent maternal death and aid in neonatal
delivery. Thus, GIS and its application are prominently implied in analyzing and understanding
demographic analysis such as mortality mainly in studying maternal health and fertility in rural
areas while making use of its application in determining the strength and weakness.

In a study carried out by Weeks et al., 2000, they found that "fertility in rural areas such as
Egypt's Governorate of Menoufia is influenced by both spatial and non-spatial factors whereon-
spatial variables can be directly obtained from sources such as census while the spatial data
requires both an accurate location of a place and data that are divided into spatial and non-spatial
components. Researchers believe that when utilizing remote sensing to estimate fertility, both
spatial and non-spatial variables play a role in influencing demographic drivers such as fertility,
mortality, and migration, as well as in data preservation and capture. According to global and
local spatial data, female illiteracy, marital status, and spatial clustering in Menoufia in 1976
accounted for 39 % in fertility. In addition to the various requirements, other factors such as
marital age and social standards may influence fertility rates. If the geographical aspect of
fertility is to be addressed, the data under investigation must be supported. The data analysis will
better reflect the current demographic condition when more information about this location
becomes available. As a result, geographic information systems (GIS) and their applications are
essential in improving our understanding of fertility and mortality.
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Furthermore, the GIS application supports the investigation of maternal and neonatal health
issues by gaining insight into health service utilization and uncovering health issues, all while
reducing deaths and increasing the number of children who survive, which eventually leads to an
increase in fertility rate. GIS technology was utilized to investigate the spatial distribution of
epidemics at the national and local levels in both the Islamic Republic of Iran and Yemen's Rift
Valley, where the practical and successful application of remote sensing and GIS assisted in
health and development decision-making. GIS is also used for demographic analysis, estimating
demand for various kinds of services that can benefit people, determining where and when to
intervene, improving care quality, boosting service accessibility, and uncovering more cost-
effective delivery options. As a result, GIS and its use in fertility demographic analysis play an
important role in reducing mortality and increasing fertility.

With 99 percent of maternal deaths occurring in developing countries and vast numbers
likely going unregistered, maternal mortality remains the most severe indicator of global health
imbalance. An average of 20 women experience illness or injuries connected to labor or
pregnancy for every death (Tatem, et al., 2014). Although the required interventions have been
made, the lack of essential sub national data continues to hinder service expansion. The
unavailability of spatial datasets to help detect the scale of inequality in resources for women and
infants has become a major obstacle to growth. GIS has the capacity to explain possible risks for
unfavorable maternal events, as well as the link between healthcare coverage and maternal
outcomes (Tatem, et al., 2014). According to a study done by (Salehi & Ahmadian, 2017), GIS
was applied to assess high-priority locations in Kerman which required maternal assistance. The
researchers identified locations of hospitals providing maternal care which were geo-coded using
ArcGIS10.0. Google Earth was also used to geo-reference the services and residential areas of
domestic maternal deaths without latitude and longitude data. Features of GIS such as geo-
processing or buffer tools were used for analysis and in proximity estimates. Furthermore in
epidemiology, GIS have been used for the analysis of infant mortality, accessibility of hospitals
to a population, entomological surveillance of vector-borne diseases such as malaria and factors
associated with child pedestrian injuries (Salgado, 1996). In a research done in Alexandria, GIS
was used to examine less than five mortality rate using digitized maps of Alexandria and the
results were drawn using spatial analysis (Mohamed, Nofal, Ahmed, & Elkaffas, 2004).
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The most recent use of GIS was in COVID-19 spread across the regions of the world. The
geographic technology of GIS was applied to COVID-19 by a variety of organizations ranging
from local to multinational agencies. The extensive usages of GIS have proved the strength of
geospatial thinking and GIS’s scalability, speed and insight. GIS provides more than only map
phenomena, it also offers information of phenomena in a common reference system (Pratt,
2020). Thus the need of geospatial analysis is essential for handling emergencies. Web-based
dashboards and digital maps can be used to update and notify the people, while administrations
as well as specialists can achieve transparency in communal managing (Carballada & Barreiro,
2021).

There are numerous disciplines and fields one of which being fertility and mortality
amongst many other, where data and information have been collected, displayed and studied in
depth with the help of Geographic Information System. The GIS technology contains advanced
organizational integration ability so that both soft and hard data can be captured, managed and
analyzed so as to provide an accurate geographically referenced display. The data and
information captured may seem random and arbitrary on first glance but GIS technology permits
users to visualize, understand and interpret data and information on different levels to reveal
associations, trends and patterns in the form of reports, charts, maps and globes which is much
more effective, efficient and user-friendly. Moreover, any agency be it small or large can
integrate the GIS technology into their information system without any difficulty which in cases
of emergencies such as natural calamities, disease outbreak such as the covid. A pandemic and
accidents will be able to save a lot of lives. And finally, application of GIS technology in various
fields opens up employment and business opportunities.

But at the same time this very technology despite its numerous strengths isn’t devoid of
drawbacks and short comings. The first of which stating the GIS technology to be an expensive
software. As a result of which only those who are in a position to afford it will be able to make
use of it. The amount of data required is also very large so in situations or circumstances where
not much data is available the technology isn’t advantageous. Owing to the spherical nature of
the earth, the likelihood of geographic error increases as the scale increases. Although there are
many limitations to the technology, its strengths cannot be undermined especially in an era
which is so much in tune with internet and digitization.
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To conclude, a GIS application is used in business and everyday activities for analysis. It
includes mapping, urban planning, and many other applications. Demographic data such as
fertility and mortality levels can also be examined using GIS. Its application in fertility analysis
helps to reduce mortality rates and improve fertility levels. Although GIS technology is
considered to be sophisticated software application and since the quantity of data required is
huge, the technique isn’t much effective in scenarios where there isn’t much data accessible. The
GIS technology has advanced organizational system integration which allows both soft and hard
data to be acquired, maintained, and evaluated to produce a spatially correct display.
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References

Alnoury, A. H. (2004). Maternal Mortality: A Global Tragedy, A GIS screening approach to the
Problem. Gezira Journal Of Health Sciences.

Carballada, A. M., & Barreiro, J. B. (2021). Geospatial Analysis and Mapping Strategies for
Fine-Grained and Detailed COVID-19 Data with GIS. International Journal of Geo-
Information, 23-24.

Mohamed, N. S., Nofal, L. M., Ahmed, M. H., & Elkaffas, S. M. (2004). Geographic
Information System (GIS) analysis of under five mortality in Alexandria. The Journal of
the Egyptian Public Health Association, 243-262.

Pratt, M. (2020). GIS Systems Lead Response to COVID-19. Retrieved from esri:
https://www.esri.com

Salehi, F., & Ahmadian, L. (2017, July 12). The application of geographic information system
(GIS) in identifying the priority areas for maternal care and services. Retrieved from
BMC Health Services Research.

Salgado, C. C. (1996). USE OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN

EPIDEMIOLOGY.

Tatem, A. J., Campbell, J., Arias, M. G., Bernis, L. d., Moran, A., & Matthews, Z. (2014).
Mapping for maternal and newborn health: the distributions of women of childbearing
age, pregnancies and births. International Journal of Health Geographics

Andrew J tatem, J. C. (2012). international journal of health geographics. Mapping of maternal

and newborn health: the distribution of women and women of childbearning age,
pregnancies and births , 20-29.

Epidemiology in health program. (1996). Use of geographic information systems in

epidemiology .Salgado, C. C. (1996). USE OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
SYSTEMS IN EPIDEMIOLOGY.
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Leila ahmadian, F. s. (2020). Application of geographic information in maternal health; scopping

view. 26-11.

Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean. (2007). Technical discussion on use and
potential of geographic information system for health mapping in the Eastern
Mediterranean Region.

Tatem, A. J., Campbell, J., Arias, M. G., Bernis, L. d., Moran, A., & Matthews, Z. (2014).
Mapping for maternal and newborn health: the distributions of women of childbearing
age, pregnancies and births. International Journal of Health Geographics.

Vullings, W., Bulens, J., Dessing, N., & Danes, M. (2012). Use of geo-Information in Policy:
limitations and advantages. AGILE’2012 International Conference on Geographic
Information Science, 271–276.

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