ABSTRACT
The second reason that GIS is little used in epidemiological analysis is that ‘the spatial analysis of epidemiological data’ has generally meant the analysis of disease incidence data as measured and recorded for small areas. Central to the use of GIS is control over the spatial referencing of health and other information-including environmental, demographic, and health resources-to which the disease data are to be related. The ability to search for potential spatial associations between these four conditioners of health status in any area, especially when they are geo-referenced
differently, is what attracts public health investigators and the public to GIS as a tool to assist them in examining health and disease patterns in local areas.
