Research: Malaria map5 December 2006 |
For the first time in almost 40 years, researchers are creating a global map of malaria risk. The Malaria Atlas Project, or MAP, will help identify populations at particular risk and predict the impact of the disease, allowing health resources to be targeted at those areas that most need it.
Researchers from Kenya and Oxford, led by Professor Bob Snow, will use information from satellites, population censuses and other electronic data related to factors that determine the presence of mosquitoes carrying the malaria parasites and the likelihood they will infect humans. Statistical approaches will enable comparisons to be made between areas where information exists with areas where there is no information to fill in the "gaps" to create a global map of malaria risk worldwide.
New anti-malarial drugs and commodities to prevent infection are often expensive and researchers are concerned that without an accurate measure of the impact of malaria, global and national finances will not be able to meet the need for these interventions.
MAP will be the first time that all scientific data on malaria have been gathered into a single source and linked to a map of the world. MAP has so far assembled information from 3126 communities in 79 countries and represents the single largest repository of contemporary information of malaria risk to-date. Importantly, MAP has been developed with an open-access philosophy to the data it gathers, allowing researchers anywhere in the world to access the data for free.
The research, funded by the Wellcome Trust, involves a collaboration between the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and the University of Oxford. Details and goals of the project are announced today in the open access journal PLoS Medicine.