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Analysis of GIS Data
We have examined three sets of World Resources Institute data:
1. Access to Health Services: People with regularly available medications and access to doctors/clinics are likely to be less susceptible to the harmful impacts of global warming, since those regions where they reside are better equipped to handle changing environmental and virulogical situations. As the map clearly shows, those nations with little access to health services are many of the same regions displayed on the malaria distribution map, indicating that they will be the hardest hit by future epidemics.
Data Source: United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), State of the World's Children 1993 (UNICEF, New York, 1993).
2. Percentage of Total Central Government Expenditure for Health: This dataset includes central government expenditures on hospitals, maternity and dental centers, clinics, health insurance schemes, and family planning. As is outlined in the future indications section of this report, governments need to put health expenditures as high priorities in order to build sufficient health infrastructures for the prevention of epidemics such as malaria. The map of this data indicates a clear lack of government health priorities in mostly the same regions as we have been concerned about in this project, mainly the majority of the African continent, most of Southeastern Asia, and parts of South America. As before, this lack of preparation is very harmful for global warming susceptibility and risk of disease spread.
Data Source: The World Bank, World Development Report 1992 (Oxford University Press, New York, 1992). Originally from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Government Finance Statistics 1990 and IMF data files.
3. Child Mortality Rate: Under-five mortality rate is the probability of dying by exact age 5, multiplied by 1,000. As explained in the malaria case study, children are especially vulnerable to infectious vector-borne diseases, which makes a positive correlation between child mortality and regions of substantial malaria incidences. This map indicates that child mortality is particularly pronounced in middle Africa, which is most likely, a depiction of problems rooted in a lack of socioeconomic development and infrastructure, such as the types of expenditures and resources described above. The severity of the child mortality problem can only worsen with the increased spread of vector-borne disease, and become far more widespread. This highlights the need for global initiatives for child health services and interdisciplinary studies of the far-reaching consequences of global warming.
Data Source: U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), unpublished data (UNICEF, New York, 1993).
