Monday, January 30, 2012

The Uganda Aids Commission (UAC) implement GIS into their research to track HIV/AIDS


The Uganda Aids Commission (UAC) decided to implement GIS into their research to track current services and interventions on HIV/AIDS, and to gather more data on what services are being provided (geographically), who is being provided for (beneficiaries), and what organization is providing for those people in that specific location. After conducting a survey on the different GIS systems currently being used in Uganda, the commission chose to use ArcView 9, a group of six UAC staff members were then trained for 2 weeks on how to use ArcView 9 before going into the field to collect data at the subdistrict level. 



In June/July of 2004 the UAC began phase 1 of monitoring HIV/AIDS interactions using GIS. In phase 1 the commission focused on setting map indicators based on the themes: prevention, mitigation, care and social support. In phase 2 data was collected from stakeholders and partners of UAC. They altered this data into different thematic maps indicating the geographic location of the stakeholders, information on the type of intervention the stakeholders provided, whether the stakeholder was a public or private non-profit provider, and lastly the number of beneficiaries each stakeholder reached. Lastly in phase 3 (October-December 2004), the UAC members collected information the subdistrict (subcounty) level, focusing heavily on the location and activities of local organization interactions with beneficiaries. Ultimately the UAC was left with a map highlighting the distribution of HIV/AIDS services and interventions present in Uganda. GIS has allowed the UAC to better analyze the services being provided in Uganda to help fight/prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.


Isabella Vargas

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