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Abstract:
Fiji has a harsh history when it comes to natural disasters, specifically epidemics, which have had significant impacts on Fiji’s economy and society as a whole. Fiji is in a very fragile social and economic state that epidemics can easily disrupt, and it would not be the first time. Epidemics have had far-reaching effects on Fiji, including social breakdown and economic conflicts. Disaster preparedness is such a complex problem in this country due to many factors, including Fiji’s geographical location as well as Fiji’s dependence on its tourism industry. Fiji is constantly getting crippled by natural disasters, and is barely given time to recover from one before the next disaster is on the horizon. In this paper, the use of neural networking will be explored in its application to fighting epidemics, focusing on both present examples (e.g. COVID-19) and past examples (e.g. measles). Furthermore, the perspective will be changed to the future, specifically by investigating our preparedness for the next lethal epidemic. By applying other data science methods with the power of machine learning, new patterns can be discovered that otherwise could not be seen with the human eye. Hopefully, this can lead to a more secure, epidemic-free, life.