Making HIV-related maps in minutes: "Indiemapper" - free mapping tool for everyone

AIDS-2014 Workshop, 24/07/2014, Melbourne, Australia

Yuliia Sereda, PhDInstitute for Economics and Forecasting, NAS, Ukrainesereda@ief.org.ua

Objectives• Basic concepts, reasoning and software • Indiemapper tools

• Practical exercise “HIV prevalence and affected populations in Europe”

• Questions and answers

Basic concepts

What is map?A graphic representation

of spatial concepts, where some real characteristics of geographical regions

are replaced with symbols

Photo credit: UNICEF Ukraine

Historical note• The first known world

map was made in 2300 century BC Babylonians (modern Iraq) on a clay tablet

Geographical Information Systems (GIS)• Type of software• Tool-kit• Approach to deal with spatial data

Data• Attribute data – what a feature is

• Nominal data – names or of objects• Categorical data – separates data into groups or classes• Ordinal data – separates data based on quantitative rank• Numerical data – data based on numbers with a

standard interval between them

• Spatial data – where the feature is (co-ordinate based data)

Layers• Data on different themes are stored in separate “layers”• Layers from different sources can be integrated using

location

Complex maps of HIV/AIDS related subjects from widely disparate sources

Why do we need maps?

Comprehensible format to multiple audiences

Estimated prevalence of HIV among young adults (15-49) in Africa (2005, UNAIDS)

 John Snow (London, 1854)

• Certain diseases tend to occur in some places and not others

Spatial relations

Map for responsesWhere are the transmission main spots?

Where are the prevention services?

Are the right services in the right places?Do we have adequate coverage?

Needs assessment, program planning and evaluation

 

• Spatial distribution of disease• Mapping populations at risk• Trends, both temporal and spatial• Input, process, output and outcome evaluation• Planning and targeting interventions

Maps for HIV/AIDS

GIS software

Mapping software (1)

• General:

ArcGIS, GeoCommons, Target Map, CartoDB, Quantum GIS, MapBox, OpenHeatMap, Google Earth

The most commonly used GIS software usually cost $1500 per

user license!

License, registration, extensive analytical capabilities

Mapping software (1)• HIV-related tools:

• STATmapper - interactive maps from 54 surveys in 46 countries. Topics include HIV indicators.

• HIVmapper - maps based on standard HIV indicators from surveys in over 20 countries

• HIV Spatial Data Repository – HIV-related data for 49 countries

• AIDSvu - AIDS information for the USA on a map

Limited number of countries and indicators, non-targeted to specific project