Public health has been defined as the “science and art of prolonging life, preventing
disease, and promoting health through organized efforts of society.” The geographical
perspective is a key aspect of public health. Populations and communities are
geographically distributed and communities tend to have their own defining characteristics.
Factors influencing health are commonly classified under four groups:
1. Inherited conditions
2. Environment, which includes both physical (i.e., air quality, water quality,
soil characteristics, radiation) and socioeconomic aspects
3. Lifestyle
4. Healthcare
Each of these factors may have marked geographical variation. The practice of
key elements of public health, including communicable disease control, environmental
health protection, health needs assessment, planning and policy, surveillance,
monitoring and evaluation, and operational public health management, is often
explicitly geographical in nature. In addition, resource allocation at the macro and
micro levels has a strong geographical component based on demography, health
needs, existing provisions, and other factors. GIS, the definition of which has evolved
from geographic information systems to geographic information science, involves a
scientific problem-solving approach, encompassing the development and application
of scientific methods to solve societal problems. It, therefore, has become an integral
and essential part of public health research and practice.