Date: 2025-01-15 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00010816
Health ... Malaria
Malaria Atlas Project (MAP)
In 2007, the Malaria Atlas Project (MAP) was funded for five years by the Wellcome Trust, UK ... this dialog relates to 2007
Burgess COMMENTARY
Peter Burgess
OVERVIEW
The Malaria Atlas Project (MAP) has been funded for five years by the Wellcome Trust, UK and is officially launched with this website. MAP is a joint project between the Malaria Public Health & Epidemiology Group, Centre for Geographic Medicine, Kenya and the Spatial Ecology & Epidemiology Group, University of Oxford, UK.
The main objective of this project is to develop a detailed model of the spatial limits of Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax malaria at a global scale and its endemicity within this range. The last attempt to map malaria risks worldwide was in the 1960's. For many areas of the world this, unfortunately, still represents our best information on malaria risk. We hope that our new efforts to map, model and project populations at risk of malaria will provide a more contemporary and robust means to assess current and future malaria disease burdens. A very detailed description of our aims and objectives, directed towards both the control and research community can be found here.
These first stages of MAP, which will last to the end of 2007, are entirely focussed on data acquisition and archive. The various mechanisms by which we will try and assemble the largest ever database of malaria parasite rate (PR) data are found on the data page and described in detail here. MAP intends to release in the public-domain all data collected during the project for which permission to disseminate has been granted. The first full release of the parasite rate data is scheduled for June 2009 to enable global searches to be comprehensive and time for our endemicity maps to be tested and reviewed.
NEW INITIATIVES
Two significant developments are planned for MAP. The first is to conduct a similarly intensive search exercise to assemble a geo-positioned database of the main Anopheles vectors of malaria with which to map their global distributions. These will provide an interesting resource for studying the biogeography of the Anopheles group. They will also be an important addition to malaria endemicity maps, as they will help determine the most appropriate species-specific choices for vector control.
The second is to run parallel searches for estimates of the gene frequency of the inherited haemoglobin disorders. These are important as proxy indicators of human resistance to malaria that we believe will be important in malaria endemicity mapping. They will also be an important resource for developing global estimates of the disease burdens of these conditions. News regarding both of these new directions will be posted as these projects develop.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The success of MAP will result from the generosity of the research and control community in providing malaria data. We are already indebted to the following individuals. Names are organized alphabetically by the country for which data were provided. In the event that we have inadvertently missed anyone please let us know, so that we can correct our omission at map@zoo.ox.ac.uk.
MAP is also grateful to many partners and collaborators whose help has proved invaluable in a variety of ways.
Dear Colleagues
Your project is pretty exciting ... but I am not convinced that it is
designed to be of the most value to society.
I am sure that this is not intentional ... everyone optimizes within
their area of expertise. But optimizing progress in the field of
socio-economic development is very much a multi-variable optimization
... and it is pretty clear that progress in the field of international
relief and development has been rather poor over the past four or five
decades in spite most amazing progress in many, many areas of science
and technology. There has to be reasons ... and there are.
I don't see any information on your website about the costs being
incurred in your MAP initiative. How much is being spent and over what
time period?
I am not really clear what is being done ... clearly mapping and
compiling knowledge is an activity with potential for value ... but
exactly what is being done?
How much is being done? I am not at all clear about this. Money is
being spent ---> activities are being done ---> certain results are
going to be obtained.
But the big question! What value do these results have? They may have
little value because they are not very useful ... hopefully this is
not what will happen. But they may also have little value because
there is no way to use these results without substantial other
resources being deployed. The UN, World Bank, the global academic
community has done a huge amount of work getting information about the
issues in relief and development ... but the fact of limited resources
is never solved. When you know where the malaria is ... what plans are
there to do anything about it? What resources are going to be
available to address the problem that you have documented?
Without the next step ... your work is merely an academic exercise of
little or no tangible value?
With the next step ... your work can be the beginning of doing the
work of reducing the burden of malaria in a successful cost effective
manner.
As things are progressing at this point in history ... my guess is
that there will not be money for the next step. I hope I am wrong, but
my experience is that I am right more often than not.
Please help me understand. How can we help?
Sincerely
Peter Burgess
Gmail Peter Burgess
Dear Mr Burgess
Thank you for your email and interest in MAP
It is difficult to respond to your detailed mail without providing you with a one-on-one in basic malaria epidemiology.
What I would suggest is that if this is an area that interests you and you'd like to be brought up to speed on the basic concepts in malaria epidemiology, public health consequences and control options I'd happily direct you to the relevant literature.
We are poised to make significant progress in malaria control, Africa is already witnessing an epidemiological transition and funds are no longer the rate limiting step. Interventions such as insecticide-treated bed nets are reaching those most in need and the poorest sectors of society.
There is now an ambitious plan to revisit the possibilities of strategic, focused elimination. The first time in 50 years the E-word has been mentioned.
But where do we target this approach? Who remains unprotected by conventional control tools? Where are they located? What needs to be done where and how much will it cost?
Simple questions - even for those not familiar with malaria. The only way to provide any sensible answers to any of these simple questions is a map. The last global map of malaria risk was developed over 40 years ago. We feel confident that by bring some good science and data assemblies together we can provide the best possible description of malaria's contemporary cartography.
Without this map elimination will be targeted in areas we know a priori it will fail. People will be protected by ITN where this will be cost-inefficient. Areas of high transmission, extreme poverty and no funds will remain under the radar of most donors.
The Malaria Atlas Project receives only a small amount of funding from the UK medical research charity the Wellcome Trust. Approximately 200,000 GBP over three years. This pails in comparison to the millions disbursed by the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation to single projects with far less ambitious aims.
If you are looking for an example of heavily funded academic research that has no obvious purpose and will not benefit the international community I suspect your web-search has picked the wrong project. Sorry.
Good science with good objectives doesn't require huge funding - just dedicated people based in countries where the disease exists - to be able to have the credibility and knowledge to shape policy. I suspect, and I too am invariably wrong, that a New York based agency will be able to help significantly in our immediate goals. But your offer of help is I am sure well intentioned.
With best wishes,
Professor RW Snow
Spatial Ecology & Epidemiology Group
If you have ay comments related to the MAP project or the website,
please e-mail us at: map@zoo.ox.ac.uk or use our feedback form.
MAP TEAM
Ms. Priscilla W. Gikandi
Priscilla Wairimu Gikandi graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons) in Geospatial
Engineering & Space Technology from the University of Nairobi in 2000.
After a short spell at Geomaps East Africa and the International
Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) she joined the MPHEG in Jan 2003
where she has worked on a number of projects including building a
national GIS health service database for Kenya. She is currently
working as a GIS specialist on the MAP project.
Dr. Carlos A. Guerra
Carlos Guerra Loaiza graduated with a medical degree from the
Universidad Central, Ecuador, in 1996 and an M.Sc. in Environmental
Change and Management from the University of Oxford, UK, in 2002.
Since then, he has worked in several aspects of global malaria mapping
including historic changes in populations at risk and defining the
current global distribution limits of malaria. He is responsible for
the design, construction and maintenance of the MAP malaria database
and for supervising and implementing the mapping geo-located spatial
data. His principal interests involve looking at the effects of
urbanisation, altitude and deforestation on malaria transmission and
how these drivers shape the current spatial limits of malaria. Carlos
is completing his doctorate (D.Phil.) at the University of Oxford and
will be helping establish a South American node for MAP as a postdoc.
Dr. Simon I. Hay
Simon Hay is a member of congregation of Oxford University and a
Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Zoology. He is funded by
the Wellcome Trust under their Senior Research Fellowship scheme to
manage the Malaria Atlas Project. Dr Hay investigates spatial and
temporal aspects of mosquito-borne disease epidemiology to support the
more rational implementation of disease control and intervention
options. Time-series analysis techniques, population dynamic theory,
remote sensing and geographical information systems are all exploited.
His most recent research is focused at defining more accurately human
populations at risk of malaria at global, regional and national
levels. From March 2007 he will be based full-time in the MPHEG in
Kenya.
Ms. Caroline Kabaria
Caroline Kabaria graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons) in Geomatic Engineering
from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
(JKUAT) in 2006, and is finalizing a Masters in Environmental Planning
and Management at the University of Nairobi. She has been involved in
GIS projects at Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for
Development (RCMRD) and at Gath Consulting Engineers. She joined the
MAP team in August 2007 as a research assistant specialising in GIS
and supporting these aspects of the project.
Dr. Abdisalan M. Noor
Abdisalan Mohamed Noor graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons) in Surveying from
the University of Nairobi in 1999. He joined the MPHEG in 2000 and was
involved in developing a spatial infrastructure of health services in
Kenya. He completed his Ph.D. on spatial models of access to and use
of government health services in Kenya in 2005 with the Open
University, UK, in collaboration with the MPHEG and the University of
Oxford. He remains as post-doctoral research scientist at the MPHEG
and his interests include investigating the spatial and socio-economic
determinants of access to and use of health interventions among rural
African communities, particularly understanding and modelling the
dynamics of insecticide treated net uptake. Dr Noor is an honorary
lecturer at the University of Nairobi, Department of Geospatial
Engineering & Space Technology and has close links with several other
Government of Kenya institutions. Noor's contribution to MAP will be
to help understand the relationship between global investment in
anti-malarial commodities and its relation to populations at risk.
Ms. Robi M. Okara
Robi Okara graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons) in Biology and Psychology
from York University, Canada in 2004. She was briefly involved in
various public health education projects before joining the MPHEG in
2006 as a graduate intern. Her current responsibilities for the MAP
project include reviewing the MAP database PDFs for entomological
data, geo-positioning of surveys and data entry. Robi has temporarily
migrated to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to
pursue an MSc in Biology and Control of Disease Vectors (2007-2008) to
help support the new vector initiatives of the MAP project. This is
funded by a Wellcome Trust Master's Training Fellowship.
Dr. Emelda Okiro
Emelda Okiro graduated with a BSc in Chemistry and Biochemistry from
Egerton University, Kenya in 2001 and joined KEMRI-Wellcome
Trust-Kilifi Unit the same year as a research assistant involved in a
large field epidemiological project studying various aspects of RSV
infection. Emelda completed her Ph.D. in 2007 from the Open
University, UK, in collaboration with University of Warwick and the
KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kilifi on infectious
disease epidemiology specifically studying the transmission dynamics
of RSV infection, in particular the characterization of patterns of
infection of this virus and associated disease within the community
and specifically within the household. Dr Okiro joined the MPHEG and
MAP in 2007 with a specific interest in developing research questions
related to measuring and temporal heterogeneity in P. falciparum risk
and how this relates to global malaria disease burdens.
Ms. Lorena Lucioparedes
After obtaining a B.Sc. (Hons) in Psychology at Universidad San
Francisco de Quito in Ecuador, Lorena Lucioparedes moved to France to
obtain a Masters in Ethnology in 2000 at the University Louis Lumière-
Lyon 2. She then moved to the UK and joined the Department of Zoology
in 2004 and later completed an M.Sc. in Medical Anthropology at the
University of Oxford in 2007. Lorena is currently working as the
Communications Coordinator and her responsibilities include dealing
with the public engagement aspects of the project, developing and
maintaining the MAP website as well as dealing with several aspects
involving data entry and database maintenance.
Dr. Frédéric Piel
Frédéric Piel graduated in 2000 with a geographical sciences degree
from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium. He obtained a
PhD within the laboratory of Biological Control and Spatial Ecology at
the ULB, using a GIS, population models and genetics, to contribute to
the study of the introduction and dispersal processes of invasive
forest pests. He is currently assembling a database of the
distribution of sickle-cell gene frequency to investigate the strength
of the spatial correlation between this inherited haemoglobin disorder
and the pre-control distribution of malaria endemicity at the global
scale as predicted by the malaria hypothesis.
Dr. David L. Smith
Dave Smith studied mathematics at Brigham Young University, and earned
his PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University.
After a short postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Maryland in
College Park, Maryland, he became an Assistant Professor in the
Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at the University
of Maryland in Baltimore, Maryland. In 2003, he moved to the Fogarty
International Center, and in 2007, he became an Associate Professor
in the Department of Zoology, and the Associate Director for Disease
Ecology at the Emerging Pathogens Institute at the University of
Florida. Dave's research interests are in the ecology of infectious
diseases, mathematical epidemiology, the evolution of antimicrobial
resistance, and the bioeconomics of infectious diseases. His role in
map is to lead, advise and help implement the epidemiological
modelling components of the research.
Prof. Robert W. Snow
Bob Snow has worked in Africa for the last 22 years. He is Professor
of Tropical Public Health at the University of Oxford and head of the
Malaria Public Health and Epidemiology Group in Nairobi, Kenya. His
work began with the first clinical trials of Insecticide-treated bed
nets in The Gambia and he has since developed a large programme of
work on the public health burden of malaria in Africa and
understanding ways in which this can be reduced through scientifically
proven methods of intervention, effective partnerships with African
governments and appropriate financing. He has published over 300
articles on malaria, is a technical advisor to the Kenyan Government
and sits on a number of international malaria advisory panels. He is
supported by the Wellcome Trust (UK) as a Principal Fellow and lives
in Nairobi with his wife and three children. He oversees the MAP
project along with the wider operational research agenda of the MPHEG.
Dr. Andrew J. Tatem
Andy Tatem graduated with a first class B.Sc. (Hons) in Environmental
Sciences from the University of Southampton, UK in 1998. He
subsequently completed a PhD within the Department of Electronics at
the University of Southampton, developing approaches for sub-pixel
land cover mapping from satellite imagery. In 2002 he took up the
position of Research Officer on a Wellcome Trust funded project aimed
at mapping settlements and populations across Africa in relation to
malaria burden estimation, using high resolution satellite imagery.
His recent work is focused on the application of satellite-imagery
based solutions to public health problems, the optimization of
population and urbanization mapping for malaria burden estimation and
the movement of diseases and their vectors through global transport
networks. He provides essential support in the acquisition, assembly,
archive and interpretation of all environmental and demographic data
for MAP.
>
> //////////////////////////////////////////////////////
>
> * A * B * C * D * E * F * G * H * I * J * K * L * M * N * O * P * Q *
> R * S * T * U * V * W * X * Y * Z
>
> A
> Afghanistan Simon Brooker
> Angola Akiko Matsumoto
> B
> Botswana Graham Root
> Brazil Fabiana Alves, Luis Marcelo Camargo, Marcelo Urbano Ferreira,
> Cor Jesus Fontes, Simone Ladeia-Andrade, Martha Mutis
> Burkina Faso Christian Lengeler, André Lin Ouédraogo, Yazoume Ye
> Burundi Marc Coosemans, Natacha Protopopoff
> C
> Cambodia Verena Carrara, Thierry Fandeur, François Nosten, Francois
> Pailin, Shunmay Yeung
> Cameroon Peter Uzoegwu, Samuel Wanji
> Cape Verde Ana Paula Arez
> China Liqun Jin, Hong-wei Zhang
> Côte d'Ivoire Marie Claire Henry, Benjamin Koudou, Barbara Matthys,
> Juerg Utzinger
> E
> Ecuador Axel Kroeger
> Eritrea David Sintasath
> Ethiopia Asefaw Getachew
> G
> Gabon Odile Oukem
> Gambia Umberto D'Alessandro, Sarah Atkinson, Lorenz von Seidlein
> Ghana Stephan Ehrhardt, Kwadwo Koram, Seth Owusu-Agyei
> Guinea-Bissau Poul-Erik Kofoed
> H
> Honduras Jackeline Alger, Fabiana Alves
> I
> India Surya K.Sharma
> Indonesia Kevin Baird, Mazie Barcus, Iqbal Elyazar, Andrew Griffiths,
> William Rogers, Inge Sutanto, Din Syafruddin
> K
> Kenya Timothy Abuya, Kubaje Adazu, Philip Bejon, Simon Brooker, Mary
> Hamel, Chandy John, Eric Muchiri, Chris Odero, Judy Omumbo, Beth
> Rapuoda, Dejan Zurovac
> L
> Laos Paul Newton, Rick Paul
> M
> Madagascar Milijaona Randrianarivelojosia
> Malawi Cameron Bowie, Marie Anne Bruce, Lawrence Kazembe, Don Mathanga
> Mali Ogobara Doumbo, Ousmane Toure
> Myanmar Verena Carrara, François Nosten
> N
> Nepal Sean Hewitt
> Nicaragua Axel Kroeger
> Nigeria William Brieger, Yusuf Omosun, Peter Uzoegwu
> P
> Pakistan Mark Rowland
> Papua New Guinea Ivo Mueller, Tom Smith
> Peru Jean Paul Guthmann, Elisa Solano
> S
> Sao Tome and Principe Tom Smith
> Senegal Oumar Gaye, Florence Migot-Nabias, Rick Paul, Ibrahim Socé
> Fall
> Sierra Leone Matthew Burns
> Somalia Imanol Berakoetxea, Mohammed Borle, Matthew Burns, Waqar Butt,
> Food Security Analysis Unit (FSAU), Abdi Hersi, Grainne Moloney, Bruno
> Moonen, Tanya Shewchuk
> Sudan Mustafa Dukeen, Ibrahim Elhassan, A. Omer , Mohamad Tarig,
> Ghasem Zamani
> Swaziland Graham Root
> T
> Tanzania Teun Bousema, Daniel Chandromohan, Chris Drakeley, Francesco
> Grandesso, Patrick Kachur, Caroline Maxwell, Fabrizio Molteni, John
> Owuor, David Schellenberg, Tom Smith
> Thailand Verena Carrara, Hla Yin Myint, Kaewpoonsri Nantawan, François
> Nosten, Vijaykadga Saowanit
> Togo Kodjo Morgah, Anja Terlouw
> Turkey Fadile Yildiz
> U
> Uganda Thomas Egwang, Francesco Grandesso, Steve Lindsay, Ambrose
> Talisuna
> V
> Vanuatu Jason Maguire, Kathryn Maitland, Dennis Shanks
> Venezuela Magda Magris, Yasmin Rubio-Palis, Adriana Tami, Leopoldo
> Villegas
> Viet Nam Mary Chambers, Peter de Vries, Annette Erhart, Jeremy Farrar,
> Nam Nguyen, Sean O'Riordan, Chau Tran Thi Hoang, Hien Tran Tinh
> Y
> Yemen Hussien Alkadi, Hoda Atta, Ghasem Zamani
> Z
> Zambia Pascalina Chanda, Sungano Mharakurwa, Eric Njunju, Philip Thuma
> Zimbabwe Graham Root, Tim Freeman, Ministry of Health and Child
> Welfare of Zimbabwe
>
> ADDITIONAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
>
> Drs Ghasem Zamani and Hoda Atta for considerable help with PR searches and geo-positioning in EMRO
> The Division of Malaria Control, Ministry of Health, Kenya, who helped
> with the contribution of Kenya Malaria Indicator Survey (MIS)
> Craig Von Hagen at FAO-SWALIM, for helping with digital databases
> and GIS data
> Rob Eadie and Ian Miller for web and database technical advice (OUCS,
> University of Oxford)
> Wladimir Alonso for Portuguese translation of inclusion criteria
> Bernard Ketsao for Swahili translation of inclusion criteria
> Owen Yang for Chinese translation of inclusion criteria
> Marie Vassallo for French translation revisions of the website
> Hoda Atta, David Bell, Keith Carter, Eva-Maria Christophel, Mikhail
> Ejov, Rainier Escalada, Rakesh Mani Rastogi, Mon Mendoza, Elisa
> Solano, Maria Victoria Valero Bernal, Ghasem Zamani and the Programa
> Nacional de Controle da Malária, Ministério da Saúde do Brasil are
> acknowledged for their help with malaria case data by country.
14/12/2007
'This e-mail (including any attachment to it) contains information
which is confidential. It is intended only for the use of the named
recipient. If you have received this e-mail in error, please let us know
by replying to the sender, and immediately delete it from your system.
Please note, that in these circumstances, the use, disclosure,
distribution or copying of this information is strictly prohibited. We
apologize for any inconvenience that may have been caused to you.
KEMRI-Wellcome Trust cannot accept any responsibility for the accuracy
or completeness of this message as it has been transmitted over a public
network. The Unit reserves the right to monitor all incoming and
outgoing email traffic. Although the Unit has taken reasonable
precautions to ensure no viruses are present in emails, the Unit cannot
accept responsibility for any loss or damage arising from the use of the
email or attachments. Any views expressed in this message are those of
the individual sender, except where the sender specifically states them
to be the views of KEMRI- Wellcome Trust Research'.
Peter Burgess
Dear Dr. Bob
I don't know whether you will get this before you are away from
computer access!'
Peter
PS ... I fell on the ice yesterday and have a really black eye and
bruised ribs that is making me miserable. But I think it will mend!
____________
Peter Burgess
Dear Dr. Snow
Thank you very much for your speedy reponse to my message.
As you know or may not know, my academic training was in engineering
and economics at Cambridge ... and my professional training in
accountancy with Coopers and Lybrand in London. I spent a good few
years in the corporate setting doing cost analysis and was the Chief
Financial Officer for a US based international company for several
years. I have done consulting assignments with the UN, World Bank and
others in a variety of places ... and I am not at all impressed with
the money spent versus development accomplishments that are evident
after decades of problematic work.
I am quite well equipped to understand how science and technology can
drive socio-economic progress, and to understand also how wealth is
made, often at the expense of socio-economic performance and the
common good.
Tr-Ac-Net ... the Transparency and Accountability Network was
organized some little time ago to address the issue of cost
effectiveness in the relief and development sector, and we have chosen
to become engaged in the malaria sub-sector as part of our overall
program.
Let me try to follow up on the points you have made.
> It is difficult to respond to your detailed mail without providing you with a one-on-one in basic malaria epidemiology.
I like to think I have learned something of the basics of malaria
epidemiology. I don't personally remember Ross and Gorgas, but I do
remember growing up in the UK with DDT a solution to killing anything
that flew! And I do know that there is not much malaria in the USA any
more, and that vector control goes into very high gear the moment
there is any indication of West Nile Virus in the birds in the
neigborhood. As I understand it, there are many places where success
in malaria control has been achieved even before the recent boom in
malaria oriented funding ... but cost effectiveness information is not
easy to find.
> What I would suggest is that if this is an area that interests you and you'd like to be brought up to speed on the basic concepts in malaria epidemiology, public health consequences and control options I'd happily direct you to the relevant literature.
I would be delighted to learn more about malaria epidemiology, public
health consequences and control options ... and especially something
about how much these various control options cost and how effective
they are. It is my understanding that predicting the optimized cost
strategy is a fairly complex multi-variate analysis but knowing how
much various interventions should cost and actually cost is rather
simple accounting ... but I have not had much luck in finding where
this information is available.
> We are poised to make significant progress in malaria control, Africa is already witnessing an epidemiological transition and funds are no longer the rate limiting step.
Yes ... in the year 2008 it is probable that more than $1 billion will
be disbursed to reduce the burden of malaria, and it would be great if
these funds were used in the optimal way. ...
> ... Interventions such as insecticide-treated bed nets are reaching those most in need and the poorest sectors of society.
Yes ... but is this the best use of scarce resources, or just one that
is easy to do, easy to demonstrate activity (distribution of nets,
number of people using nets), easy to promote, etc, etc? There seems
to be some serious disagreement about the effectiveness of bednets
depending on whether one is listening to Dr. Christian Lengeler or Dr.
Don Roberts ... and my own model of cost effectiveness suggests that
bednets will never help achieve the E-goal unless in combination with
other appropriate interventions.
> There is now an ambitious plan to revisit the possibilities of strategic, focused elimination. The first time in 50 years the E-word has been mentioned.
Great ... tell me more. I am curious what the time frame for
E-limination might be. I recall Dr. Brilliant talking about this at a
TED conference almost 2 years ago, but I don't sense that the malaria
leadership has bought into the idea very seriously yet. I hope I am
wrong.
> But where do we target this approach? Who remains unprotected by conventional control tools? Where are they located? What needs to be done where and how much will it cost?
In the cost effectiveness model for malaria control that I have worked
on, there was a very important need spatial information ... and
specifically spatial information and temporal information on the right
scales. It is apparent that costs can be reduced by an order of
magnitude if the spatial data is good enough to plan physical
interventions in an meaningful manner ... and again the effectiveness
is improved if the timing of interventions is optimized. Spatial and
temporal optimization at the metre level and at the day level has
enormous potential for performance optimization ... as I understand
the science.
> Simple questions - even for those not familiar with malaria. The only way to provide any sensible answers to any of these simple questions is a map.
Which is what every serious vector control district that I have ever
seen uses. But the interesting thing about the map in the vector
control district is that it helps relate the interventions that are
taking place with the problem on the ground ... and it is on a spatial
scale that has reality for the people making decisions about control
interventions ... and is on a temporal scale so that interventions are
made in a timely manner (like by 2.30 this afternoon we need to know
what and where we are going to work at 10 pm tonight.
> The last global map of malaria risk was developed over 40 years ago.
This is a surprise ... what ever happened to the data collection and mapping exercise of the MARA group ...
http://www.mara.org.za/mapsinfo.htm
As I understand the situation, the data underlying the MARA effort has
been used to develop a series of maps, but these data do not seem to
be accessible to others, for some reason. This is not the Open
Knowledge model that one would have hoped for where health performance
is at issue.
My impression ... perhaps wrong ... is that there have been many many
data collection and mapping exercises over the years with almost all
the data uselessly archived as soon as the project is over, never to
be seen again. So yes, your assertion that a global map has not been
prepared in years is probably right, but the data can easily have been
collected uselessly multiple times in the interim.
> We feel confident that by bring some good science and data assemblies together we can provide the best possible description of malaria's contemporary cartography.
Yes ... absolutely ... but the value is realized when knowledge is
used practically to optimize interventions ... and as far as I can
see, this is not part of the strategic game plan.
> Without this map elimination will be targeted in areas we know a priori it will fail.
No quite sure I understand this
> People will be protected by ITN where this will be cost-inefficient.
I think I agree with this
> Areas of high transmission, extreme poverty and no funds will remain under the radar of most donors.
A huge issue ... but what mechanism will link the spatial data and the
mapping work to the donor planning process, not to mention the local
authorities and the local government planning processes.
> The Malaria Atlas Project receives only a small amount of funding from the UK medical research charity the Wellcome Trust. Approximately 200,000 GBP over three years. This pails in comparison to the millions disbursed by the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation to single projects with far less ambitious aims.
Yes ... I would agree
> If you are looking for an example of heavily funded academic research that has no obvious purpose and will not benefit the international community I suspect your web-search has picked the wrong project. Sorry.
Actually ... Tr-Ac-Net is very much interested in identifying good
projects doing excellent work and creating optimum value. Locating
big projects disbursing a lot of money and doing rather little is
something we do ... but you cannot build on these efforts. It is
possible to build on the good work that is being done.
In my experience, the value of a good project is optimized when the
work is effectively linked to interventions that can build on the work
already done both during the project and even moreso after the project
financing ends. This is not the norm ... in fact it hardly ever
happens. I am not yet sure this is part of your project or not.
> Good science with good objectives doesn't require huge funding - just dedicated people based in countries where the disease exists - to be able to have the credibility and knowledge to shape policy.
Well said ... but how much of local expertise has actually found its
way into local policy, let alone the international policy of the UN
agencies, the multilateral financing institutions and the bilateral
donors.
> I suspect, and I too am invariably wrong, that a New York based agency will be able to help significantly in our immediate goals. But your offer of help is I am sure well intentioned.
While I am safe in New York at the present time ... my work over the
years has been in many parts of the world where death and danger were
close by ... and a good enough justification for Tr-Ac-Net's efforts
to address the challenge of getting better use from the fund flows in
the international relief and development sector.
> With best wishes,
To the extent that you can help by pointing me/us in the direction of
material that you think we should be taking into consideration ...
that would be great.
Best wishes and good luck
Sincerely
Peter Burgess
From: 'Peter Burgess'
Date: 13 December 2007 13:27:15 GMT-05:00
To: map@zoo.ox.ac.uk
Subject: About MAP ... about cost, activities, results and value
____________
Peter Burgess
The Transparency and Accountability Network: Tr-Ac-Net in New York
www.tr-ac-net.org
917 432 1191 or 212 772 6918 peterbnyc@gmail.com
FW: About MAP ... about cost, activities, results and value
Robert Snow
To: peterbnyc@gmail.com
Cc: Simon Hay
Head ... Malaria Public Health & Epidemiology Group
Centre for Geographic Medicine
KEMRI-University of Oxford-Wellcome Trust Collaborative Programme
Kenyatta National Hospital Grounds (Behind NASCOP)
P.O. Box 43640 - 00100
Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +254 20 2715160 or 2720163 or 2719936
Fax: +254 20 2711673
Cell: +254 0722 523 323
PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF EMAIL ADDRESS
////////////////////////////////////////////////
CONTACT US
MAP is currently composed of two nodes, one in Nairobi, Kenya, and one
in Oxford, UK. The details of which are below. We are in the process
of developing MAP nodes in Hanoi, Vietnam, and Quito, Ecuador. Details
of these will be forthcoming.
Department of Zoology
University of Oxford
Tinbergen Building
South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1865 271243
Fax: +44 (0)1865 271243
Peter Burgess
The Transparency and Accountability Network: Tr-Ac-Net in New York
www.tr-ac-net.org
IMMC - The Integrated Malaria Management Consortium Inc.
www.IMMConsortium.org
212 772 6918 peterbnyc@gmail.com
Print on demand books: http://www.lulu.com Search: Peter Burgess
'Hundreds of Issues that Impact Relief and Development Performance'
'Revolutionary Change for Relief and Development'
'Iraq - A New Direction – A Strategy for Peace'
Sat, Dec 15, 2007 at 4:28 PM
To: Robert Snow
Cc: Simon Hay
Bcc: Robert John Novak
____________
Peter Burgess
The Transparency and Accountability Network: Tr-Ac-Net in New York
www.tr-ac-net.org
917 432 1191 or 212 772 6918 peterbnyc@gmail.com