Water-Associated Disease Index (WADI)

Water-associated diseases, such as cholera, dengue, and schistosomiasis, threaten the health and wellbeing of billions worldwide. They are most prevalent in tropical and sub-tropical regions, and are spread through contact with contaminated water or exposure to disease-carrying vectors (such as mosquitoes) that depend upon water to survive. With limited resources to treat or combat the spread of water-associated disease in many endemic regions, preventative interventions must be appropriately targeted and timed to maximize their efficacy. This requires accurate identification of regions most vulnerable to disease, and the timely delivery of interventions to prevent, mitigate, and manage disease in these regions.

The Water-Associated Disease Index (WADI) is designed to measure and visualize the vulnerability of communities and regions to infectious water-related diseases in the face of global changes such as increasing urbanization, land use intensification and climate change. It aims to assess vulnerability by integrating disease specific measures of environmental exposure (i.e., temperature, precipitation, land cover etc.) with disease-specific measures of social susceptibility (i.e., life expectancy, educational attainment, access to healthcare etc.) to provide a holistic picture of vulnerability to disease.

The following maps are part of the project titled: Mapping Global Vulnerability to Dengue using the Water Associated Disease Index. (WADI) was applied to calculate and visually communicate vulnerability to dengue on a global scale by demonstrating clear patterns of dengue vulnerability and how these may change over time.

For more information on the peroject, please access the publication here.

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