ABSTRACT
A combination of previous studies and preliminary field work in Mozambique suggested that the role of population displacement in influencing health might operate through changes in exposure to local disease environments, increased susceptibility, and through the impacts of resettlement on the environment. Cholera and other communicable diseases abounded in contrast to the decline of cholera in Mozambique where a successful peace accord was achieved in October 1992. The aspects of Geographical Information System and Global Positioning Systems can become useful for organisational assistance programmes dealing with emergency environmental health situations, when combined with improved understanding of the ecology and spatial epidemiology of communicable diseases. A factor in preventing the primary transmission and subsequent persistence of cholera in areas of established settlement would be in limiting processes of environmental change which could lead to the creation of physical conditions favourable to Vibrio cholerae, such as salinization and alkalinization.
