ABSTRACT. In this paper we provide an overview of the main causes of death in the province of Rome in 1981 and, showing the most relevant variations which have been recorded over time. Using ArcGIS 9.2 software, we have drawn up several medical-geographical thematic maps and specific land use maps which corroborate the temporal and spatial analysis, and which provide suggestions about the relation between causes of death and certain risk factors. Particular attention is given to the diseases of the circulatory system and neoplasms which caused, respectively, 38.4% and 32.6% of deaths in 2007 and which followed substantially different trends. Then, we focus on the city of Rome, where we examine the evolution of land use between 1980 and 2001 in order to investigate, by means of detailed screening, the changes recorded in a city where, in 2007, 67% of the inhabitants of Rome province lived.
A re-evaluation of the demographic risk per number of inhabitants due to volcanic eruptions in the Vesuvius area was made on the basis of the Census data of 2001. We introduced other variables (population density and number of houses) which permit to upgrade the existing models. Using the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and particularly ArcGIS 9.0 software we have elaborated a land use map, an urbanization map and a series of new risk maps which lead us to obtain a map of what we call "social risk" due to volcanic eruptions, derived from the combination of the data used and the overlay of the maps. We have proposed an integrated model which can be easily updated to follow the evolution of the volcanic risk in the overpopulated Vesuvius area, with the aim of supporting the planning of Civil Protection and Local Authorities, for an evacuation scenarios and the possibility of taking into account the potential infrastructural damages. This methodology can be tested in other volcanic regions
A few applications in health policy have been presented up to now in Italy by the geographical studies in mortality inequalities. But geographers have some information to give to the health authority of how it is possible to lower the unbalance in mortality between Northern and Southern Italy. An unbalance like this concerns the different types of deceases, which are predominant in each of these geographical areas. The Southern regions are affected by a general mortality of 8,0 to 9,5 per thousand, whilst the Northern regions have a general mortality of 9,5 to 12,5 per thousand. Some inequalities which derive from geographical factors like the different quality and patterns of life can be lowered with an adequate health policy.
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