The use of spatial information systems in the management of HIV/AIDS: A study of Gugulethu

Bibliography: leaves 79-94.South Africa is experiencing an HIV/AIDS pandemic of shattering dimensions. The availability and provision of antiretroviral drugs could bring relief to the situation. Different patients use different antiretroviral therapies that vary in complexity of dosage and administering and monitoring the patient-medication related data are complicated tasks. The lack of physical infrastructure, lack of reliable statistics and the lack of adequate resources hinder the efficient management of HIV/AIDS. The purpose of the study is to design and develop an HlV/AIDS database, which is embedded in a Spatial Information Management System. The functions of the system are to properly collect and administer HIV/AIDS related information and locate the HIV/AIDS patients and the proximity of these patients to existing infrastructure in view of providing a spur to improve health care service and delivery. The pilot study area is the Gugulethu township in Cape Town where more than 27% of the 325 000 residents are HIV+. Microsoft® Access is the chosen software for the design of the HIV/AIDS database. Interfaces are customized where the user can view, sort, manipulate and retrieve accurate information on all patients, which has been collected by therapeutic counsellors. By integrating the database within a spatial information system it is also possible to combine patient information with geographic information such as the location of various health care centres and existing infrastructure. It is shown that the implementation of the HIV/AIDS database and the Spatial Information Management System can play a critical role in determining where and when to intervene, improving the quality of care for HIV+ patients, increasing accessibility of service and delivering a cost-effective mode of information