Publications

2023
Ahmed A, Lahmar B. Identification and analysis of spatial access disparities related to primary healthcare in Batna City, Algeria. Geospatial Health [Internet]. 2023;18 (2). Publisher's VersionAbstract

The issue of reducing spatial disparities is one of the most pressing concerns for policymakers and planners, which consider a crucial focus in planning and public service, especially accessibility to healthcare. Accessibility and proximity are the principal keys to providing good public service. Therefore, a healthcare system that meets the requirements of availability and affordability will be useless if spatial accessibility is not provided equally to all demands (population). Many technics and methods exist to quantify accessibility, including the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method, its widely used to measure healthcare accessibility based on the travel distance threshold. This research paper aims to use the 2SFCA method to measure the spatial healthcare accessibility in Batna City because the 2SFCA method offers to measure accessibility on both spatial and functional levels. The spatial level will consider the threshold distances between the health demand (population) and the health provider location (healthcare facilities); moreover, functional accessibility is measured based on facility to population ratio that will give a better overview of Batna's healthcare provider. As a result, the optimal threshold distance that offers balanced results between the spatial accessibility score and other WHO ratios will be a distance between 1000- and 1500-meters travel distance. In addition, the central census districts have a higher access score than the rest of the city's districts; most census districts that do not have accessibility (12% of the population) to healthcare facilities are concentrated in the southwest of Batna city.

2021
Lahmar B. Analyse de la fonction sanitaire dans la ville de Batna dans une perspective de gestion de crise majeure. Approche par SIG. Département de Géographie et Aménagement du Territoire ( GAT) [Internet]. 2021. Publisher's VersionAbstract

Tout espace géographique notamment urbain est exposé aux risques majeurs de natures différentes et d’occurrences variées. Si le risque ne peut être évité car ces espaces portent en puissance une certaine vulnérabilité physique et socio-économique, il convient alors de les doter d’une certaine résilience qui leur permet une certaine capacité à rebondir et à assumer un fonctionnement normal après une catastrophe. Pour assurer cette résilience il est indispensable de pouvoir évaluer l’état des zones sources c’est-à-dire les éléments du territoire qui participent par leur nature à la gestion des crises. Parmi celles-ci l’ensemble des entités matérielles et humaines qui assument la fonction sanitaire en particulier médicale implantées dans l’espace géographique urbain considéré en l’occurrence la ville de Batna et sa région. L’approche méthodologique : Le doctorant doit d’abord effectuer un état des lieux sur la fonction sanitaire en identifiant, en classifiant et en spatialisant l’ensemble de ces entités. Dans un deuxième temps ces entités doivent être implémentées dans une base de données SIG avec leurs attributs. Ensuite tout le réseau routier doit être analysé, géospatialisé et implémenté dans la base de données. En troisième lieu l’articulation du réseau routier avec la répartition spatiale des entités sanitaires doit permettre d’opérer une analyse Net Works (Analyse réseau) qui servirait à proposer plusieurs scénarios de risques majeurs dans la ville de Batna et sa région. Ces derniers doivent répondre à une réelle prise en charge des probables situations de crise (Inondations, séismes, risques technologiques…). Le travail doit déboucher sur un diagnostic objectif sur les forces et les faiblesses du système sanitaire en termes de capacités à répondre aux sollicitations d’une crise et proposer des solutions capables de renforcer la résilience de la ville

Kalla MI, Lahmar B, Geullouh S, KALLA M. Health geo-governance to assess the vulnerability of Batna, Algeria to COVID-19: the role of GIS in the fight against a pandemic. GeoJournal [Internet]. 2021. Publisher's VersionAbstract

The health systems in many countries are still unable to control the evolution and persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic despite the large mobilisation of national resources. International attention has focussed on finding a cure, and preventive measures and national and international strategies to be adopted and implemented with regard to other future pandemics have been neglected despite their predictability and high probability of occurrence. This work aims to anticipate a reading on experience feedback in light of the current pandemic situation, and to identify the main spatial elements of vulnerability in Batna, Algeria, which seems to control the ability of an urban area to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. We used a digital model based on a multi-criteria approach implemented in a geo-decisional GIS database to serve as a decision support tool for dealing with an epidemiological situation as a preventive or curative action. The results from the model seem to adequately reflect the reality of confirmed incidents in Batna. In addition, the results of the analysis of the spatiotemporal evolution of the virus clearly confirm that the urban sectors characterised by high vulnerability are those that have recorded an increasing number of confirmed COVID-19 incidents since the start of the epidemic until December 2020.

2020
Akakba A, Lahmar B. The use of Geocoding for Home Healthcare Application and Management an Epidemic Situation. Case of COVID-19 Virus Outbreak. Geographica Pannonica [Internet]. 2020;24 (4) :285-293. Publisher's VersionAbstract

The lack of an addressing system is one of the problems of urban management in Algeria, which makes it hard to find the addresses concerned, especially in case of crisis where the decision-makers need accurate data in real-time. Like many countries, Algeria follows up the world health organization guidelines that declared the COVID-19 virus as pandemic and recommended the full quarantine and reduces the social contact as much as possible; however, these procedures weren’t enough to control the increasing number of confirmed cases, which exceeded the hospital’s capacities. To face up the outbreak of this pandemic, the Algerian health professionals decided to treat most coronavirus cases at home. This study aims to use a geocoding tool developed in C# programming language and ArcGIS Software Development Kit (SDK) to help in the epidemiological control operation in Ain Touta city and simplifies the interventions using a spatial approach. These problems are addressed by a tool to collect, analyze, store, and process archiving of the geographic data using a geodatabase server

Lahmar B, DRIDI H, Akakba A. A GIS-BASED MULTICRITERIA SPATIAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM MODEL TO HANDLE HEALTH FACILITIES RESOURCES. CASE OF CRISIS MANAGEMENT IN BATNA, ALGERIA. Geographia Technica [Internet]. 2020;15 (1) :137-186. LINKAbstract

The city of Batna is exposed to risks of different natures and varied occurrences and cannot be avoided, the available resources to face up the results of catastrophes become very limited, especially the healthcare system, that must be flexible and take care all wounded fast as possible but also it should take in consideration their capacity and managing their resources, but it suffers from structural problems which has a negative effect on its resilience that help to rebound and assume to the normal functioning after a disaster. This paper aims is to develop a spatial model and present the possibility of the implementation inside GIS (Geographic Information System) environment to handle the problem of health resources (workforces and medical supply), and evaluate the evacuation plane in crisis management by find and the closest health centre that can take care the wounded within an acceptable

Lahmar B, DRIDI H, Akakba A. Territorial health approach outputs of geo-governance of health facilities: case study of Batna, Algeria. GeoJournal [Internet]. 2020;86 (5) :2305–2319 . DOIAbstract

The city of Batna is currently experiencing major spatial disparities between the number of health facilities and their urban distribution. This situation has encouraged the re-evaluation of the functioning of the healthcare system and its spatial infrastructure deficit, especially regarding the proximity of healthcare facilities to the populations they cater to. This spatial deficit has resulted in a decrease in prevention program performance and the quality of healthcare. The aim of this paper is to measure the spatial healthcare inequalities in the city by quantifying the accessibility, delimiting the proximal service area, and detecting the distribution type based on a health-territory approach that integrates health dimension into a territorial master plan of the city using a geographic information system database developed for this purpose. The results confirm that accessibility is affected by the distribution of the health facilities as proposed by the urban master plan of the city. The proximity distances have increased, which provides an opportunity to maximise the service areas; however, it also creates a functional imbalance and overloads the health facilities.