Disease Prevention Maps

Facebook Disease Prevention Maps are designed to help public health organizations close gaps in understanding where people live, how people are moving, and the state of their cellular connectivity, in order to improve the effectiveness of health campaigns and epidemic response. These datasets, when combined with epidemiological information from health systems, assist nonprofits in reaching vulnerable communities more effectively and in better understanding the pathways of disease outbreaks that are spread by human-to-human contact.

Features

Privacy-Preserving

Facebook's High Resolution Population Density Maps aren't built using Facebook data and instead rely on combining the power of machine vision AI with satellite imagery from Maxar and census information from countries, which are already anonymized and de-identified data sources. Maps that use Facebook data, like Movement and Network Coverage, also include only de-identified and aggregated data from the Facebook platform.

Global Reach

Facebook's Disease Prevention Maps are global in reach. Our Population Density Maps are made from global satellite images and are being released worldwide. Movement Maps and Network Coverage Maps are also derived from Facebook data that is global in nature.

Demographic Estimates

Our Disease Prevention Maps include high-resolution maps that estimate not only the number of people living within 30-meter grid tiles, but also provide insights on demographics, including the number of children under five, the number of women of reproductive age, as well as young and elderly populations, at unprecedentedly high resolutions.

One of the most important pieces of information we need to respond to epidemics is where people are moving. This kind of data can be integrated into our epidemiological models to help us estimate how quickly a disease might spread, and where to put resources to contain it.”

Caroline Buckee, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health

Who Uses Disease Prevention Maps

International agencies

International agencies and UN organizations like UNICEF and the International Medical Corps can use the demographic estimates from our high resolution population density maps to better plan health commodity distributions such as those that take place on vaccination days or during national bed-net distributions.

Universities and researchers

Researchers and universities can combine information from health systems with aggregated and anonymous Facebook movement data to glean insights about where the next case of cholera or drug-resistant malaria is likely to occur.

This map shows the distribution of children under five in Zimbabwe, drawn from Census data & satellite imagery.

This map shows movement between Greater London and surrounding areas by day. These data are useful to public health...

This map shows Mozambique's elderly population (ages 60+), drawn from Census data & satellite imagery.

Methodology

Facebook Disease Prevention Maps show where people live, how people are moving, and whether they have connectivity.

High Resolution Population Density Maps including Demographic estimates

Building on top of our country-level high resolution population density maps, we work with Columbia University to determine the best available population statistics by country, typically from the most recent Census, which are usually only available at the administrative boundary. Using these administrative-boundary level estimates, we distribute the corresponding proportions of population belonging to each demographic category across tiles. More detail on the methodology for our high resolution maps can be found here.
Movement Maps

Movement Maps aggregate information from people using Facebook on their mobile phones with Location Services enabled, showing movement between two points - either within tiles, or across administrative boundaries. More detail on the methodology used to build movement maps can be found here.
Network Coverage Maps

Network Coverage maps show where people on Facebook have cellular connectivity through their mobile device at the 2G, 3G, and 4G levels. Connectivity levels are determined based on the speed and latency of data being sent between users' devices and Facebook servers that host the app. All data is de-identified and aggregated and visualized as a polygon of network coverage by speed. More information on our network coverage maps can be found here.

Case Studies

The Red Cross Missing Maps program used population maps to streamline a Malawi-based measles and rubella vaccination campaign, deploying local volunteers only to populated areas.

Disease Prevention Maps

Improving vaccination rates in Malawi

The Red Cross Missing Maps program used population maps to streamline a Malawi-based measles and rubella vaccination campaign, deploying local volunteers only to populated areas.

Harvard School of Public Health, Direct Relief, and Northwestern used the high resolution population density map for Mozambique to better inform the potential outbreak of cholera after Cyclone Idai... Harvard School of Public Health, Direct Relief, and Northwestern used the high resolution population density map for Mozambique to better inform the potential outbreak of cholera after Cyclone Idai and in advance of Cyclone Kenneth in Mozambique. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Corban Lundborg. In this photo, The World Food Programme transports relief supplies to Mozambique on April 8th following Cyclone Idai. Six weeks later, Cyclone Kenneth caused additional flooding, leaving Mozambique at additional risk of a cholera outbreak.

Disease Prevention Maps

Model-based estimation of cholera following Cyclone Kenneth in Mozambique

Harvard School of Public Health, Direct Relief, and Northwestern used the high resolution population density map for Mozambique to better inform the potential outbreak of cholera after Cyclone Idai and in advance of Cyclone Kenneth in Mozambique. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Corban Lundborg. In this photo, The World Food Programme transports relief supplies to Mozambique on April 8th following Cyclone Idai. Six weeks later, Cyclone Kenneth caused additional flooding, leaving Mozambique at additional risk of a cholera outbreak.

In the News

If Cyclone Kenneth Leads to Cholera in Mozambique, Who Is Most at Risk? Direct Relief Data from Facebook Helps Red Cross Make Better Maps Red Cross

Get Involved

Check out our high resolution population density maps, including demographic estimates, available for download on the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)’s Humanitarian Data Exchange. Each country-level dataset contains the demographic estimates. If you're interested in working with movement or network coverage maps, please email diseaseprevmaps@fb.com.

Explore

Disease Prevention Maps

Features

Privacy-Preserving

Global Reach

Demographic Estimates

Who Uses Disease Prevention Maps

International agencies

Universities and researchers

Methodology

High Resolution Population Density Maps including Demographic estimates

Movement Maps

Network Coverage Maps

Case Studies

Improving vaccination rates in Malawi

Model-based estimation of cholera following Cyclone Kenneth in Mozambique

In the News

Get Involved