Malaria Atlas Project (MAP)

The Malaria Atlas Project (MAP) is an international research collaboration and WHO Collaborating Centre focused on producing global, high-resolution maps of malaria risk, parasite prevalence, incidence, and mortality. MAP was formally established in May 2006, with project work beginning in 2005. Institutional affiliation has moved over time: MAP was founded at the University of Oxford, relocated to the Telethon Kids Institute in Perth, Western Australia in September 2019, and established an East African branch at the Ifakara Health Institute in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in late 2023. MAP is also affiliated with Curtin University in Perth.^[1]

MAP uses geospatial Bayesian model-based geostatistics and integrates satellite-derived climate and land-cover data as environmental covariates. EO inputs include MODIS land cover data (IGBP fractional landcover at 5 km annual resolution)^[2], climate datasets, vegetation indices, and satellite-derived temperature and rainfall rasters. Key outputs include global Plasmodium falciparum prevalence maps, P. vivax endemicity maps, vector species occurrence maps (produced under the Vector Atlas initiative), and malaria burden estimates for the Global Burden of Disease study in partnership with IHME. Data products are freely available on malariaatlas.org and via Google Earth Engine.^[3]

MAP's primary funder is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, with additional support from US PEPFAR and PMI and the Channel 7 Telethon Trust Western Australia; historical funders include the Wellcome Trust and the UK Medical Research Council.