Application of Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques in the Malaria Control Program of Katsina State Nigeria

Malaria is an acute infectious disease spread to humans by the female anopheles mosquito. Effective control and management of the disease principally required accurate data on the disease and the knowledge of the spatial location of the major existing and highly potential mosquito breeding habitats. It also requires the knowledge of the proximity of health service centers and other land use /land cover of the area under consideration. Thus there is a need for thematic maps showing the configuration of the land area, couple with modeling and Geographic Information System (GIS) as major decision making tools, to articulate and achieve desirable results. Paradoxically past efforts by the Katsina State Government of Nigeria to contain the disease in the State neglected this associated environmental control measures and therefore proved less effective. For effectiveness and costs reduction strategies, this study attempts the application of the Remote Sensing, Land Survey and the GIS techniques for the Malaria Control Program of Katsina State. Katsina metropolis as case study was used to highlight the challenges involve and the potentials for the statewide application. The result may facilitates an improve malaria epidemic understanding and help its abatement.