TITLE:
Spatial Data Application on Health (COVID-19) in Health Region 6 of Thailand
AUTHORS:
Somjate Laoluekiat, Suthat Chottanapund, Sanwit Iabchoon, Yodsawalai Chodpathumwan
KEYWORDS:
GIS, COVID-19, Epidemiology, Spatial Data, Thailand
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Applied Sciences,
Vol.12 No.8,
August
22,
2022
ABSTRACT: Purpose: A geographic information system (GIS) in a combination with health data
is very useful for disease monitoring, prevention and control. The new sciences
of the combination of GIS and classical health data, namely spatial
epidemiology. Methods: Using the secondary health database (including COVID-19 data); data source is
the 43 standard data folders of Thailand health statistic collected by Ministry
of Public Health Thailand, collected between 2013 and 2022. The data of the
Heath Region 6 of Thailand was used as an example. Twodata sets health data
with spatial data Combined to new database and developed dashboard to present
the information via web base system. Results: The dash board provides new
perspective of disease distribution view. For example, the map on our dashboard
reports the density of COVID-19 cases in each area. Based on the records,
the densest areas shown are the urban area in each province. It can also be
used for resource distribution and access time to health center of the area. Conclusion: The project reports the use of GIS and public health data to develop a
dashboard for monitoring health resources and disease distributions in the
health region 6 of Thailand. The major limitation of spatial epidemiology is
the lack of or incomplete raw data input in the system.