Geographic information systems: a new weapon in the fight against HIV/AIDS

Abstract

Some 150 participants attending an international workshop on the use of geographic information systems in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic today identified at least four key areas in which national mapping agencies can contribute to the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS and improve health delivery in Africa. Underling the multifaceted nature of the fight against HIV/AIDS, Ms Aida Opoku-Mensah, Director of Information Science and Technology Division at ECA said that, given limited resources, it is often the case that spatially targeted interventions have the potential to produce better results with more effective spending when resources are spatially focused. In his opening remarks at the workshop, Dr. Roger Salla Ntounga, UNAIDS Representative to Ethiopia, the African Union and the ECA, said that during the current economic downturn, improving the effectiveness and quality of HIV and AIDS services is more important than it is ever been, because “we must do more with less.”