Spatial Development Initiative (SDI)

The SDI uses various types of technology to generate information for malaria prediction and related programme planning. At its core is the Spatial Decision Support System (DSS), as well as malaria prediction models for the Lubombo SD. The Spatial DSS consists of: a Malaria Information System, a GIS Data Repository; and a web-based spatial and statistical query and analysis tool. The establishment of such a DSS aims to support:

• the extension of malaria control to southern Mozambique
• changes in the distribution and incidence of malaria, as a result of the implementation of the malaria control programme
• the assessment of the intervention effects on development, with a special emphasis on tourism and job creation.
• broader decision-making on development issues within the region
• the production of malaria risk maps for tourists and tourism developers to ensure they are able to make decisions based on accurate, up-to-date information.

This technology-based programme is premised on the idea that accurate malaria case information is critical for the planning of malaria control and the assessment of the efficacy of the intervention - and that information exchange about this planning is key to development in the region. The computerised Malaria Information System (MIS) has been set up in various African provinces to foster the input, management and output of malaria case information.

Specifically, the MIS enables users to identify areas of risk and aims to help decision-makers direct resources and create strategies. The ready access of data - and its rapid entry, analysis and output in the form of graphs, tables and maps - is designed to allow for streamlining of the data within the region, and for rapid management and evaluation of the situation on an ongoing basis, hopefully fostering cost-effective use of resources. In short, GIS is a strategy for integrating different data sets, analysing their spatial and statistical components, and modeling possible scenarios to provide a planning and management tool.

The MIS has been adapted for implementation in Mozambique and Swaziland. Information officers have been employed in these countries to help control programmes with the collection, management and distribution of malaria-related information and to provide technical support. The data they have collected during routine operations and entered into the MIS consists of both in- and out-patient data of confirmed and clinically diagnosed malaria cases. Data capture takes place at each of the regional offices, with the data being sent out to be cleaned and analysed; this approach allows problems to be identified and addressed on an ongoing basis. The cleaned data and the results of the research are fed back to the partners, who use the MIS for management purposes.

Technology, Health.

Organisers believe that malaria control and development has a spatial component which is ideally suited to be supported by a GIS-based DSS. "GIS provides a mechanism to integrate different data sets, analyse their spatial and statistical components, and model possible scenarios to provide a planning and management tool. Its use requires appropriate data, mechanisms for analysis and distribution, as well as expertise and technical support." The SDI's GIS-based MIS and the resulting availability of spatially-referenced data will, they claim, have implications for the development of historically disadvantaged communities, for example, by bringing electricity to health facilities; facilitating the optimal placement of roads, new schools, and clinics; and stimulating other infrastructural developments.