It is reasonable to believe that targeted use of health informatics could help in better deployment, use and assessment of available public health resources. This is easier said than done. Though there are many innovative schemes, strategies and approaches that make it into the research literature in public health, only a handful go beyond to actually being adopted for regular use by society, and public health stakeholders. Why this troubling disconnect? A wide array of challenges become readily apparent:
What problem(s) do you target?
How do you make the system robust?
Even if such a system exists, how will the basic public health apparatus (typically under government management) adopt and use such a system in real life?
How do you get together the kind of multi-disciplinary force that would be required to do justice to a problem of this magnitude?
With an unceasing determination to overcome these challenges, CAGH is currently undertaking the following projects:
Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS)
(Funded by Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India)
The project titled "Development of an advanced fuzzy-logic based disease model for along with a framework for a geospatial public health network" will be undertaken for a two year period from 2015. Primary objectives include the development of a mathematical model utilizing fuzzy logic for prediction of dengue vector density using a variety of remote sensing parameters and a framework for a geospatial public health network. This project will have synergies with the Homi Bhaba Centre for Science Education, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai and the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Indian Institute of Science Campus(IISC), Bengaluru, India on enhancing community-based health awareness by strengthening school and college-based science education.
What problem(s) do you target?
How do you make the system robust?
Even if such a system exists, how will the basic public health apparatus (typically under government management) adopt and use such a system in real life?
How do you get together the kind of multi-disciplinary force that would be required to do justice to a problem of this magnitude?
With an unceasing determination to overcome these challenges, CAGH is currently undertaking the following projects:
Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS)
(Funded by Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India)
The project titled "Development of an advanced fuzzy-logic based disease model for along with a framework for a geospatial public health network" will be undertaken for a two year period from 2015. Primary objectives include the development of a mathematical model utilizing fuzzy logic for prediction of dengue vector density using a variety of remote sensing parameters and a framework for a geospatial public health network. This project will have synergies with the Homi Bhaba Centre for Science Education, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai and the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Indian Institute of Science Campus(IISC), Bengaluru, India on enhancing community-based health awareness by strengthening school and college-based science education.
Early Warning and Automated Response System (EWARS) project
The EWARS project is an attempt to move from hand wringing (or even worse, shoulder-shrugging) to sensible solutions. A mdultinational group of individuals, organizations and academic entities are working together, many under the broad umbrella of United Nations Action Team 6, to develop an informatics-based system that can ultimately perform dynamic risk assessments and give recommendations for a response tailored to available resources and priorities. The group is currently looking at applying the EWARS concept to the control of mosquito borne disorders, as it affects millions of people across the world particularly in the underdeveloped regions. At the same time, being a communicable disease, it offers the potential for significant improvements in quality of life, mobidity and mortality reduction and improved economic productivity through individual and collective action. Further details about EWARS can be gathered from Projects-EWARS page and publications listed on the "publications" page of this website.
Enhancing Community based Sanitation
It is hypothesized that health outcomes can be changed when there is an improvement in sanitation related behavior which may be improved with increase in awareness. However, awareness is directly proportional to knowledge, therefore to impart knowledge there is a need to impart information. The group is working to promote awareness about hygiene and sanitation with Kochi as a pilot city and then spreading the message across the country. Our planned intervention is the use of scientific knowledge and principles not just relating to sanitation, but also behavior change, media communication, etc for maximal efficacy for a given quantum of resources. Further details about EWARS can be gathered from Projects-Sanitation page of this website.