Capacity building of biodefense informatics for public health preparedness and response in rural regions: EpiInfo, GIS, and data management training

Chiehwen Ed Hsu, University of Texas School of Health Inform ation Science
Francisco Soto Mas, University of Texas at El Paso

Abstract

Emergency informatics such as data management and geographic information systems applications have become an important training agenda for enhancing health surveillance and risk communication in public health emergencies. The free EpiInfo/Epimap software developed by the CDC offering domain knowledge such as health information management may be particularly useful for preparing nonurban jurisdictions often confronting limited resources in dealing with health emergency events. This article describes the delivery of training workshops to enhance the competencies of health workers in biodefense informatics and discusses its implication for delivering education to rural regions.