WHO-led Tropical Data initiative launches
On 20 July 2016, WHO launched Tropical Data, an initiative following on from the recently completed Global Trachoma Mapping Project (GTMP), which surveyed 2.6 million people in 29 countries to map the prevalence of blinding trachoma.
Tropical Data uses the same methodologies and technologies as GTMP, which a number of ICTC members collaborated on. It also supports the full survey process: from planning and protocol development through to data management and analysis of the survey data.
The team behind the service is a consortium of scientific, technological and implementation partners that made the GTMP – the largest infectious disease mapping ever undertaken – a success. International Trachoma Initiative provides the core data management service, RTI develops and provides the technology behind the service and supports training, Sightsavers provides project management, documentation, budgeting and training packages while WHO sets standards and provides scientific oversight.
Having this current, accurate data available and owned by ministries of health, will save in-country teams working to eliminate trachoma time and money, and ultimately will help speed up the elimination of this painful, blinding disease.
To find out more about the initiative, visit www.tropicaldata.org