USE OF GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN EPIDEMIOLOGY: A CASE STUDY OF DILOVASI DISTRICT

The Dilovasi district in Kocaeli has one of the largest industrialized zones in Turkey and experienced rapid, unplanned industrialization and urbanization in the second half of the 20(th) century. There are various activities, such as steel, chemical and petroleum industries as well as transportation and storage facilities in Dilovasi district. In recent years, cancer cases have increased and have been above both the national and the world average. Despite the increasing cancer incidents in the area, there are limited preventive measures. One of the major issues in the district is the illegal occupation of public lands by migrants and current workers of the industrial facilities. Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality has to prevent the illegal occupation of public lands, as well as taking action for the rapid increase in cancer cases. In this study, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is used to track the distribution of cancer incidents in the Dilovasi district of Kocaeli. Map of cancer cases are generated for the entire region using ArcGIS, and the amount of cancer cases are compared to the world standards.