MAPPING AND MONITORING OF HIV SUSCEPTIBLE VICTIMS IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA USING GIS

The spread of HIV had been on the increase over the past years. The approach adopted in reducing the spread of the virus has not been effective in curbing the disease. The approach has been more of "post contamination" measures of mapping the reported cases of the virus in the hospital. There is need for a "pre contamination" measure of preventing the contamination of the disease. GIS technology was applied in mapping the geographic location of persons likely to contaminate the virus by their activities. The location of the following Spot (Brothel, street, Home-based, Bar/Night club/ Casino based, Hotel/lodge, Massage parlour, Hostel/campus-based, trailer (truck) stop, Escort (call girl/mobile) and others) were identified vis-à-vis the target persons (Female Sexual Workers (FSW), Male Sexual Workers (MSW) and Injected Drug Users (IDU)) that visit the Spot. Sample questionnaire was designed for each of the target person and used to create a database. The result of the query performed shows that Onitsha zone 1 and Awka zone 1 has the highest number of FSWs. This may be attributed to the activities around the Spot. No information was obtained for MSW and few Spot were identified where IDU visit in Onitsha and Awka.