Spatial Distribution of Cancer Incidence in Sri Lanka : Using GIS and Remote Sensing Techniques

The book contains an analysis of the cancer distribution of Sri Lanka by comparing the distribution of cancer cases against geographical risk factors implicated in the etiology of cancer. This book is an attempt to examine the possible causes of cancer and to determine whether the location where patients were living could have a direct influence on the incidence of cancer. To achieve this, maps of Cancer distribution were prepared using cancer patient data published by the National Cancer Control Unit in Sri Lanka and these maps were compared against thematic maps created for geographical risk factors implicated in the etiology of cancer. Once these two maps were visually compared and there seems to be a relationship, statistics were used to determine if a relationship could exist between them. Conclusions and recommendation were given based on these results.