Osaretin Oviasu

Supervisors: Dr Jan Rigby and Dr Dimitris Ballas
Funding: University of Sheffield Fee Waiver

Spatial analysis of chronic kidney disease in Nigeria: case study in Edo State

Qualifications

BSc Geography and Regional Planning, University of Benin, Edo State, Nigeria (2004)
MSc Geographical Information Systems, University of Leeds, UK (2006)

Research Focus

Many developing countries including Nigeria are facing an epidemiological transition; i.e., non-infectious diseases are replacing infectious diseases as the leading threat to public health. A WHO report, observed that deaths caused by infectious disease would reduce by 3% over the next decade while chronic diseases would increase by 17% even though they already account for 72% of the total global burden of disease in people over 30 years old (World Health Organization, 2005). There is therefore the need to look at the overall health issue of these countries such as non-infectious diseases, which are now having an increasing impact on the health sector.

Regardless of the increasing use of GIS in many areas of health care research and planning, its adoption in the Nigerian health research is still minimal. Other health research outside the country especially in developed countries has demonstrated that the utilization of GIS within the health sector can help to recognize issues that have otherwise been ignored in the past, helping in projecting future phenomena, and also in managing the situation.

This research aims at examining the demographic factors that are likely to contribute to the development of CKD in patients. It would attempt to identify any variation(s) in the demographic factors among the residents in each area and determine if it can be regarded as a contributing factor to the development of CKD in patients in Edo state.

Contact Details

Address: University of Sheffield, Department of Geography, Winter Street, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK
Tel: +44 (0)114 222 7973
Fax: +44 (0)114 222 7907
Email: ggp08ouo@Sheffield.ac.uk