[Use of geographic information systems in public health]

To enhance the efficiency of epidemiological surveillance by the countrywide use of current information telecommunication technologies, diagnostic systems based on monitoring is one of the tasks of the Russian Federal Service for Consumer Rights Protection and Human Health Control in the control and prevention of parasitic diseases. The epidemiological surveillance system for parasitosis encompasses not only the monitoring and assessment of the situation, but also necessary measures if epidemic complications occur. Geographic information systems (GIS) may be successfully used for this purpose. GIS-based interactive health atlases have been created and put on the Internet and researches made.