Tracking the Exposure of Vulnerable Populations to Heatwaves Around the Globe

### **Review of Schistosomiasis Spatial Epidemiology in Zambia**

**Kingford Chimfwembe1, Hikabasa Halwindi2, and Christopher Simoonga3**

1Chreso University, Lusaka, Zambia

<sup>2</sup> University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia

3University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia

Schistosomiasis in Zambia has been a major public health problem for a long time now. Currently, the estimated prevalence of schistosomiasis in Zambia stands at 26.6 %, with an estimated 2.39 million people infected and another 3 million at risk of getting an infection, though the World Health Organization estimates that those infected could be 4 million. This paper is a systematic review whose main purpose is the application of GIS and RS in schistosomiasis mapping, modeling, and control in Zambia. The review discusses the opportunities and challenges in the use of GIS and RS technologies in Zambia and also proposes future research focus. We carried out a literature search on PubMed, Google Scholar, and EBSCON host using the same combination of terms and Boolean operators used by Simoonga et al. (2009), except that "Africa'' was replaced with "Zambia''. Therefore, the following combination of terms and Boolean operators were entered: "remote sensing" OR "geographical information system" OR ''Remote sensing'' OR "mapping" OR "prediction" AND "schistosomiasis" AND "Zambia". The snowballing technique was also used to review bibliographies or reference lists of previous and similar studies (Kalinda, Chimbari, and Mukaratiwa, 2018). Most publications on GIS and remote sensing in Zambia were between 2008 and 2011, where eight publications (62%) were made compared to the 2012 to 2019 period, which accounted for only five studies (38%). Of the 13 studies that focused on the use of GIS and RS in Zambia, one study merely cited the use of GIS and RS technologies in Zambia. Another study was purely GIS-based, and only the locations of the study sites and other polygon data were shown. The remaining 11 studies used a combination of both GIS and RS technologies. Of the studies that used a combination of GIS and RS technologies, two studies were at the micro-level, one at the macro-level, and the rest were at the meso-level. The potential use of GIS and RS in the modeling, mapping, and control of schistosomiasis in Zambia must be emphasized. More studies on schistosomiasis and snail intermediate hosts at micro-level care are required.

• Most publications were published between 2008 and 2011 (8, or 62%), compared to between 2012 and 2019 (5, or 38%).

#### Discussion


#### Acknowledgements

• This poster was made possible through the contributions of K. Chimfwembe, who developed the concept , while Prof. C. Simoonga and Dr. H. Halwindi provided guidance.

#### Authors

Kingford Chimfwembe1, Hikabasa Halwindi2, Christopher Simoonga3

1 Chreso University, City Campus, Lusaka, Zambia.

2 University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia

3 University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia

*Figure 2: Search results.*

*Figure 1: Search criteria.*

#### Introduction


#### Results
