ORCID Profile
0000-0001-8789-3187
Current Organisation
Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine
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Publisher: SPIE
Date: 13-05-2011
DOI: 10.1117/12.884782
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-10-2010
Abstract: Spatial epidemiology is useful but difficult to apply in developing countries due to the low availability of digitized maps and address systems, accurate population distributions, and computational tools. A community-based mapping approach was used to demonstrate that participatory geographic information system (PGIS) techniques can provide information helpful for health and community development. The PGIS process allowed for the rapid determination of sectional (neighborhood) boundaries within the city of Bo, Sierra Leone. When combined with data about hospital laboratory visits, a catchment area for one hospital in Bo could be established. A survey of households from within the catchment area determined that the average population per household (about 6 in iduals) was similar to that found in the 2004 census. However, we also found that the average house was inhabited by more than one household, for an average of 17.5 inhabitants per residential building, which is critical information to know when estimating population size using remote imagery that can detect and enumerate buildings. The methods developed in this paper serve as a model for the involvement of communities in the generation of municipal maps and their application to community and health concerns.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-07-2012
Publisher: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Date: 07-2013
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-02-2012
DOI: 10.1007/S10661-012-2548-6
Abstract: Human health depends on reliable access to safe drinking water, but in many developing countries only a limited number of wells and boreholes are available. Many of these water resources are contaminated with biological or chemical pollutants. The goal of this study was to examine water access and quality in urban Bo, Sierra Leone. A health census and community mapping project in one neighborhood in Bo identified the 36 water sources used by the community. A water s le was taken from each water source and tested for a variety of microbiological and physicochemical substances. Only 38.9% of the water sources met World Health Organization (WHO) microbial safety requirements based on fecal coliform levels. Physiochemical analysis indicated that the majority (91.7%) of the water sources met the requirements set by the WHO. In combination, 25% of these water resources met safe drinking water criteria. No variables associated with wells were statistically significant predictors of contamination. This study indicated that fecal contamination is the greatest health risk associated with drinking water. There is a need to raise hygiene awareness and implement inexpensive methods to reduce fecal contamination and improve drinking water safety in Bo, Sierra Leone.
No related grants have been discovered for Umaru Bangura.