Access to Healthcare and Spatialisation of Resources in Sub-saharan Africa: A GIS Solution to Mobility and Treatment of Patients in the West Region of Cameroon

Tende Renz Tichafogwe; Nkumbesone Makoley; Kana Clavel Djibril

doi:doi:10.11648/j.urp.20220701.11

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Access to Healthcare and Spatialisation of Resources in Sub-saharan Africa: A GIS Solution to Mobility and Treatment of Patients in the West Region of Cameroon

Tende Renz Tichafogwe, Nkumbesone Makoley, Kana Clavel Djibril

Published in Urban and Regional Planning (Volume 7, Issue 1)

Received: 30 October 2021 Accepted: 25 November 2021 Published: 16 February 2022

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Abstract

Access to health and availability of sanitary resources is a major deterrent to mobility and treatment in sub-Saharan African towns. If it is not a problem of distance, perhaps it will be that of existing health infrastructure and know-how. This article posits that the incongruence in the availability of health units and unsatisfactory alertness has affected care in the West Region. A physical- access-ratio analysis was done to determine the distance between the health resources and population through a GPS and WGS 84 for the presentation of results. Some 120 questionnaires were administered to patients and health personnel to have first-hand information on the ratio and health need of the area. Results from findings divulge an unequal distribution of health units in the West with 51.3% concentrated in five districts and 48.7% in fifteen. The ratio of population to available health unit is 2,543 inhabitants per unit which is commendable to the WHO 10,000 inhabitants per unit standard. Unfortunately this ratio is unevenly distributed within the region as districts with a high prevalence level of diseases possess less health units. The region is 78.6% accessible in the distance of households to health unit of 5km maximum of WHO standard with 21.4% of some areas at 20km away. With an uneven distribution of inhabitants to health personnel in the region, there is a need to re-adjust the ratio. This paper advocates for a health unit and resources map to facilitate mobility and reduce health discrepancies at best in the area.

Published in	Urban and Regional Planning (Volume 7, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.urp.20220701.11
Page(s)	1-9
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Access to Healthcare, Disparity in Health Units, Diseases Exposure, GIS, West Region

References

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[3]	GIROND F., 2017, Mise en place d’un système d’information géographique pour la détection précoce et la prédiction des épidémies de paludisme à Madagascar. 110pg.
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[5]	KAMEL BOULOS ROUDSARI A. V., and CARSON E. R., 2001, Health Geomatics: An enabling suite of technologies in health and healthcare. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 34 (3), 195-219.
[6]	MCMICHAEL A., J., and BUTLER C., D., 2013, Emerging health issues: the widening challenge for population health promotion. Health Promotion International, Vol. 21 No. S1, 15-24, doi: 10.1093/heapro/dal047.
[7]	MEVA’A ABOMO D., BA’ANA ETOUNDI M. L., MOUKAM N., NGANAFEI S., 2017, Géopolitique de métropolisation de la sante publique au Cameroun: défis et enjeux, In Dynamiques urbaines et Transformation socio-spatial dans les villes du Cameroun, CERAD-ACP, Vol. 6, pp: 229-250.
[8]	NDI H. N and NGUENDO YONGSI H. B., 2018, Introduction to Health Geography, Book Guild Ltd, 215p.
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[12]	NJIMANTED G. F., NFOR O. N., YAKUM I. M., and MBOHJIM O. M., 2017, HOUSEHOLDS’ CHOICES OF HEALTHCARE SERVICES IN THE NORTH WEST REGION OF CAMEROON. Journal of the Cameroon Academy of Sciences Vol. 14 No. 1 (2017), 41-55, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/jcas.v14i1.4
[13]	SIELIENOU I., MAGNE TAMGA D. D., TANKWA J. M., MUNTEH P. A., & LONGANG TCHATCHOUANG E. V., 2021, Strategic Health Purchasing Progress Mapping in Cameroon: A Scoping Review, Health Systems & Reform, 7: 1, e1909311-15, DOI: 10.1080/23288604.2021.1909311.
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APA Style

Tende Renz Tichafogwe, Nkumbesone Makoley, Kana Clavel Djibril. (2022). Access to Healthcare and Spatialisation of Resources in Sub-saharan Africa: A GIS Solution to Mobility and Treatment of Patients in the West Region of Cameroon. Urban and Regional Planning, 7(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20220701.11

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ACS Style

Tende Renz Tichafogwe; Nkumbesone Makoley; Kana Clavel Djibril. Access to Healthcare and Spatialisation of Resources in Sub-saharan Africa: A GIS Solution to Mobility and Treatment of Patients in the West Region of Cameroon. Urban Reg. Plan. 2022, 7(1), 1-9. doi: 10.11648/j.urp.20220701.11

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AMA Style

Tende Renz Tichafogwe, Nkumbesone Makoley, Kana Clavel Djibril. Access to Healthcare and Spatialisation of Resources in Sub-saharan Africa: A GIS Solution to Mobility and Treatment of Patients in the West Region of Cameroon. Urban Reg Plan. 2022;7(1):1-9. doi: 10.11648/j.urp.20220701.11

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@article{10.11648/j.urp.20220701.11,
  author = {Tende Renz Tichafogwe and Nkumbesone Makoley and Kana Clavel Djibril},
  title = {Access to Healthcare and Spatialisation of Resources in Sub-saharan Africa: A GIS Solution to Mobility and Treatment of Patients in the West Region of Cameroon},
  journal = {Urban and Regional Planning},
  volume = {7},
  number = {1},
  pages = {1-9},
  doi = {10.11648/j.urp.20220701.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20220701.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.urp.20220701.11},
  abstract = {Access to health and availability of sanitary resources is a major deterrent to mobility and treatment in sub-Saharan African towns. If it is not a problem of distance, perhaps it will be that of existing health infrastructure and know-how. This article posits that the incongruence in the availability of health units and unsatisfactory alertness has affected care in the West Region. A physical- access-ratio analysis was done to determine the distance between the health resources and population through a GPS and WGS 84 for the presentation of results. Some 120 questionnaires were administered to patients and health personnel to have first-hand information on the ratio and health need of the area. Results from findings divulge an unequal distribution of health units in the West with 51.3% concentrated in five districts and 48.7% in fifteen. The ratio of population to available health unit is 2,543 inhabitants per unit which is commendable to the WHO 10,000 inhabitants per unit standard. Unfortunately this ratio is unevenly distributed within the region as districts with a high prevalence level of diseases possess less health units. The region is 78.6% accessible in the distance of households to health unit of 5km maximum of WHO standard with 21.4% of some areas at 20km away. With an uneven distribution of inhabitants to health personnel in the region, there is a need to re-adjust the ratio. This paper advocates for a health unit and resources map to facilitate mobility and reduce health discrepancies at best in the area.},
 year = {2022}
}

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TY - JOUR
T1 - Access to Healthcare and Spatialisation of Resources in Sub-saharan Africa: A GIS Solution to Mobility and Treatment of Patients in the West Region of Cameroon
AU - Tende Renz Tichafogwe
AU - Nkumbesone Makoley
AU - Kana Clavel Djibril
Y1 - 2022/02/16
PY - 2022
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20220701.11
DO - 10.11648/j.urp.20220701.11
T2 - Urban and Regional Planning
JF - Urban and Regional Planning
JO - Urban and Regional Planning
SP - 1
EP - 9
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2575-1697
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20220701.11
AB - Access to health and availability of sanitary resources is a major deterrent to mobility and treatment in sub-Saharan African towns. If it is not a problem of distance, perhaps it will be that of existing health infrastructure and know-how. This article posits that the incongruence in the availability of health units and unsatisfactory alertness has affected care in the West Region. A physical- access-ratio analysis was done to determine the distance between the health resources and population through a GPS and WGS 84 for the presentation of results. Some 120 questionnaires were administered to patients and health personnel to have first-hand information on the ratio and health need of the area. Results from findings divulge an unequal distribution of health units in the West with 51.3% concentrated in five districts and 48.7% in fifteen. The ratio of population to available health unit is 2,543 inhabitants per unit which is commendable to the WHO 10,000 inhabitants per unit standard. Unfortunately this ratio is unevenly distributed within the region as districts with a high prevalence level of diseases possess less health units. The region is 78.6% accessible in the distance of households to health unit of 5km maximum of WHO standard with 21.4% of some areas at 20km away. With an uneven distribution of inhabitants to health personnel in the region, there is a need to re-adjust the ratio. This paper advocates for a health unit and resources map to facilitate mobility and reduce health discrepancies at best in the area.
VL - 7
IS - 1
ER -

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Author Information

Tende Renz Tichafogwe

Department of Geography, the University of Yaounde 1, Yaounde, Cameroon
Nkumbesone Makoley

Department of Geography, the University of Douala, Douala, Cameroon
Kana Clavel Djibril

Free Lands Consulting, Douala, Cameroon

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APA Style

Tende Renz Tichafogwe, Nkumbesone Makoley, Kana Clavel Djibril. (2022). Access to Healthcare and Spatialisation of Resources in Sub-saharan Africa: A GIS Solution to Mobility and Treatment of Patients in the West Region of Cameroon. Urban and Regional Planning, 7(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20220701.11

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ACS Style

Tende Renz Tichafogwe; Nkumbesone Makoley; Kana Clavel Djibril. Access to Healthcare and Spatialisation of Resources in Sub-saharan Africa: A GIS Solution to Mobility and Treatment of Patients in the West Region of Cameroon. Urban Reg. Plan. 2022, 7(1), 1-9. doi: 10.11648/j.urp.20220701.11

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AMA Style

Tende Renz Tichafogwe, Nkumbesone Makoley, Kana Clavel Djibril. Access to Healthcare and Spatialisation of Resources in Sub-saharan Africa: A GIS Solution to Mobility and Treatment of Patients in the West Region of Cameroon. Urban Reg Plan. 2022;7(1):1-9. doi: 10.11648/j.urp.20220701.11

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@article{10.11648/j.urp.20220701.11,
  author = {Tende Renz Tichafogwe and Nkumbesone Makoley and Kana Clavel Djibril},
  title = {Access to Healthcare and Spatialisation of Resources in Sub-saharan Africa: A GIS Solution to Mobility and Treatment of Patients in the West Region of Cameroon},
  journal = {Urban and Regional Planning},
  volume = {7},
  number = {1},
  pages = {1-9},
  doi = {10.11648/j.urp.20220701.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20220701.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.urp.20220701.11},
  abstract = {Access to health and availability of sanitary resources is a major deterrent to mobility and treatment in sub-Saharan African towns. If it is not a problem of distance, perhaps it will be that of existing health infrastructure and know-how. This article posits that the incongruence in the availability of health units and unsatisfactory alertness has affected care in the West Region. A physical- access-ratio analysis was done to determine the distance between the health resources and population through a GPS and WGS 84 for the presentation of results. Some 120 questionnaires were administered to patients and health personnel to have first-hand information on the ratio and health need of the area. Results from findings divulge an unequal distribution of health units in the West with 51.3% concentrated in five districts and 48.7% in fifteen. The ratio of population to available health unit is 2,543 inhabitants per unit which is commendable to the WHO 10,000 inhabitants per unit standard. Unfortunately this ratio is unevenly distributed within the region as districts with a high prevalence level of diseases possess less health units. The region is 78.6% accessible in the distance of households to health unit of 5km maximum of WHO standard with 21.4% of some areas at 20km away. With an uneven distribution of inhabitants to health personnel in the region, there is a need to re-adjust the ratio. This paper advocates for a health unit and resources map to facilitate mobility and reduce health discrepancies at best in the area.},
 year = {2022}
}

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