Improving Malaria Decision Support with Earth Observations

Researchers at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) propose to improve malaria control decision making in sub-Saharan Africa by developing and deploying a technology for incorporating the latest NASA Earth observations for surface temperatures, precipitation, and vegetation health into a widely used health management platform titled District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2). DHIS2 is the preferred health management information system in 60 countries across four continents worldwide including all sub-Saharan African countries with whom CDC works. DHIS2 is used by CDC, the European Union (EU), and other health facilities and government organizations to monitor diseases, provide vital health data, and support disease-control decision making. Malaria has been selected for the case study because of the well-established impacts of environmental factors on transmission of the disease. This proposal is based on the hypothesis that integration of disease information with environmental data can provide disease control decision makers with the integrated, accurate, and up-to-date situational view needed to optimize interventions. Successful fusion of Earth observation data with a health monitoring application will be applicable to other NASA data products and other diseases monitored through DHIS2.