Administrative Boundaries

MAP has accumulated a large estate of GIS polygon data representing the administrative and health unit boundaries of malaria-endemic countries. These polygons are necessary for us to be able to map the data that is supplied against such units, and then to feed this data into the geospatial models developed by the MAP group alongside other spatial datasets and covariates.

The polygon data held by MAP includes datasets with a global scope (such as GADM and GAUL), as well as regional and country-specific boundaries provided by a range of sources, including but not limited to:

• The Humanitarian Data Exchange
• The World Health Organisation (WHO)
• The Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI)
• Ministries of Health (MoHs)
• National institutes of Geography, Censuses and Statistics

MAP aims to acquire the most up-to-date versions of the above datasets that we can, but we also store and catalogue previous versions to aid with historical mapping and modelling.

Moreover, as well as making use of such datasets in their source formats, ROAD-MAP has developed a single global dataset of units compiled from a range of these sources, designed to best match the data we acquire and suit the needs of our group. The dataset is composed of the best available set of units for each malaria-endemic country, with gaps and overlaps (at both national and subnational levels) removed, in order to produce a topologically correct coverage. Further cleaning is undertaken to produce a standard set of attributes, to manage disputed territories and cartographic regions (such as lakes), and to ensure the consistency of coordinate system projections.

The permissions associated with the sources of these data do not allow us to make these data available as a publicly downloadable global set at present. We are able to share them with collaborators. The following table shows the sources of publicly available GIS polygon data obtained from sources other than GADM, GAUL, and The Humanitarian Data Exchange: