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  ****Geographic               Information Systems in Public Health: Proceedings of the Third National               Conference
**EDITORS:**

**Robert               C. Williams, P.E., DEE**              Assistant Surgeon General              Director, Division of Health Assessment & Consultation              Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Atlanta GA

**Max M. Howie, M.S.**Chief, Program Evaluation, Records & Information               Services Branch              Division of Health Assessment & Consultation              Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Atlanta GA

**Carolyn V. Lee, M.D., M.P.H., M.A.**Chief, Spatial Analysis and Information Dissemination               Section               Program Evaluation, Records & Information Services Branch              Division of Health Assessment & Consultation              Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Atlanta GA

**William D. Henriques, Ph.D., M.S.P.H.**GIS Coordinator, ATSDRSpatial               Analysis and Information Dissemination Section               Program Evaluation, Records & Information Services Branch              Division of Health Assessment & Consultation              Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Atlanta GA

 

**FOREWORD**

In               1996, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)               started on a journey to develop a national forum for technology               transfer; a meeting where new and innovative uses of GIS would be               encouraged, and frontiers for and challenges to the use of spatial               analysis would be debated and discussed. The realization of that               journey, and the tremendous efforts of many creative people, was               the Third National Conference on Geographic Information Systems               in Public Health, held August 18-20, 1998, in San Diego, California.               

The               power and potential of GIS is limited only by your imagination.               Recent advances in the application of GIS technology have improved,               and will continue to revolutionize the spatial analysis of diseases,               environmental contamination, and social/demographic information.               This technology offers public health professionals unparalleled               insights as we enter the 21st century. 

It               is this vision that enabled the Third National Conference on GIS               in Public Health. This shared understanding brought more than 500               conference attendees and presenters together with the pledge to               ***communicate*** - sharing advancements in the development               and/or implementation of GIS technology; ***cooperate***               - networking to share GIS resources to resolve demanding and complex               public health issues at the local, state, tribal, and national levels;               and, ***collaborate*** - seeking means to better promote               research into and development of innovative applications of geospatial               data and GIS technology. The Conference served as a forum for public               health professionals from near and far to learn about computer mapping               technology and spatial data analysis in health protection and disease               mitigation. 

The               Third National Conference on GIS in Public Health was sponsored               by ATSDR, with institutional cosponsors and partnerships. These               included California               State University at Fresno, the Centers for Disease Control               and Prevention (CDC), US               Census Bureau, US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA),               US Geological Survey (USGS),               the American Public Health Association (APHA),               the National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO),               the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO),               the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA)               at Santa Barbara, the National Association of Local Boards of Health               (NALBOH),               and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).               The local host for the Conference was San Diego State University               (SDSU).               In additional, two all-day GIS in Public Health workshops were provided               by NCGIA Santa Barbara. The workshops provided attendees with an               introduction to the use of GIS in the health sciences and an opportunity               to learn more about spatial statistical techniques used to analyze               health data. 

The               unlimited future of GIS in Public Health is built on centuries of               public health surveillance activities, where health professionals               have relied on maps to locate and identify changes in patterns of               human disease. The GIS of today provides a relatively easy tool               for overlaying and analyzing disparate data sets that relate to               each other by location on the earth's surface. The growing availability               of health, demographic, and environmental databases containing local,               regional, national, and international information are propelling               major advances in the use of GIS and computer mapping with spatial               statistical analyses. The proceedings of this Conference challenge               us to make the most of these unprecedented opportunities and to               build on the legacy of the early practitioners. We started on our               journey to reveal a public health world within the grasp of GIS;               we are left with the mapping of a universe of GIS possibilities               for the future. 

ATSDR               looks forward to an exciting future of enhanced public health and               environmental protection. Through the use of GIS and Internet technology               we can become more "connected" to one another than ever before,               enabling the sharing of information and ideas of those who work               closely with communities in protecting the health of our nation.               Please encourage others to learn more about *the **power of place***               through the links and training               materials provided here on the GIS in Public Health web site.
Robert               C. Williams, P.E., DEE Assistant Surgeon General              Chief Engineer, USPHS
****
**ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:**The               conference proceedings were developed under a contract with Eastern               Research Group (ERG), located in Lexington, MA. ATSDR would               like to thank **Gail Schubert** for her project management skills,               **Nick Kanaracus** for his desktop publishing and web page development               efforts, and **Jan Power** for the techincal editing of individual               manuscripts and communication with the authors. **Dr.               Bill Henriques, ATSDR's GIS Coordinator** was responsible               for the technical oversight of the 1998 GIS in Public Health conference,               the conference proceedings, and the overall development of these               web pages. Please feel free to contact Bill if you have any questions               or need some guidance.
**DISCLAIMER:**               Links to non-Federal organizations found at this site are provided               solely as a service to our users. These links do not constitute               an endorsement of these organizations or their programs by ATSDR               or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The ATSDR               is not responsible for the content of the individual organizational               webpages found at these links.   
Last           Updated: July 28, 2000
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