The application of geographic information system (GIS) in the field of public health

Geographic information system (GIS) is a computer-based decision support system, which can manage, analyze and display spatial data in the environment of taking many factors as a whole. GIS has been widely applied in China's public health, serving in disease surveillance, epidemiology, environmental health research, research of health care utilization and decision making, respond to health emergencies and other aspects. This paper has summarized the progress of GIS research and its applications in public health field, looking ahead the application prospects of its integration with GPS, RS and Internet.