Making malaria history with maps

Mikel Maron
Tue, 04 Oct 2016 00:00:00 -0400

Over the last two months, our friends at the Zambia Ministry of Health, PATH, Tableau Foundation, and Alteryx mapped 99% of buildings in Livingstone District, Zambia to help make the country malaria-free by 2020! Dozens of volunteers contributed to the map, learning how map data directly contributes to aiding malaria elimination efforts. Mapbox helped set up the task and introduce partners to the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team community.

OpenStreetMap data in Livingstone District, along with other geographical factors like elevation, rainfall, and temperature data, are used to predict the likely location and timing of malaria outbreaks. These predictive models help community health workers and Ministry of Health to get resources to the right places before an outbreak. The Livingstone mapping project joins a number of recent efforts to use OpenStreetMap in malaria prevention programs, including in Kenya and in Mozambique.

Assessing community health worker data with Zambian Ministry of Health. Photo: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/Elizabeth Pohl.

We are excited to bring our approach and connections to more humanitarian work – let us know if you see a good use for Mapbox tools, or want assistance with putting together a HOT project. Sign up with Mapbox Humanitarian or get in touch to talk more.