TITLE:
Malaria Control Mechanisms for Effective Healthcare Delivery in Ghana: The Use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
AUTHORS:
Lenos Koku Ankrah, Desmond Ayim-Aboagye, Franklin N. Glozah
KEYWORDS:
Malaria, Geographic Information Systems, Healthcare, Ghana
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Preventive Medicine,
Vol.6 No.2,
February
29,
2016
ABSTRACT: Malaria is a major health problem facing many tropical countries, including Ghana. The use of modern mechanisms to study environmental factors in malaria occurrence is imperative in malaria control efforts. The aim of this research is to investigate how malaria occurrence is influenced by environmental factors and how Geographical Information Systems (GIS) can be used as a mechanism for improving malaria control in healthcare delivery in Ghana. Environmental factors, elevation, daily temperature and daily rainfall were plotted against prevalence of M and S forms of mosquitoes using ArcGIS 10.1. Prevalence of Anopheles gambiae M was the highest at elevations of 0 m to 200 m and that of S was the highest at elevations between 200 m and 500 m. Prevalence of M was the highest at temperatures between 26.1°C - 27.6°C whilst that of S was the highest at temperatures of between 24.5°C and 26.0°C. Prevalence of M was the highest at rainfall between 10 mm and 35 mm and S was the highest at rainfall between 26 mm and 36 mm and beyond. M form was positively correlated with temperature and negatively with elevation and humidity. The S form was negatively associated with temperature and positively with elevation and rainfall. GIS models can combine with environmental data to estimate vector prevalence under environmental conditions and therefore its use is recommended in Ghana.