Neglected Tropical Disease Geographic Distribution¶
Learning Objective¶
Students can identify the geographic regions where neglected tropical diseases concentrate and describe how specific NTDs (soil-transmitted helminths, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, trachoma, onchocerciasis) cluster in different parts of the tropical world.
Specification¶
The full specification below is extracted from Chapter 9: "Global Health".
Type: microsim
**sim-id:** ntd-geographic-map
**Library:** p5.js
**Status:** Specified
Simplified world map rendered in p5.js using country polygon outlines. Countries
are shaded by NTD burden intensity (lighter = lower burden, darker = higher
burden) using GBD 2021 DALY estimates. Clicking any country opens a sidebar
panel showing: country name, top 3 NTDs by burden, total NTD DALYs, and whether
the country is currently receiving preventive chemotherapy program support. A
dropdown allows selecting a specific NTD (soil-transmitted helminths,
schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, trachoma, onchocerciasis) to show its
specific geographic distribution. A toggle switches between "Total DALY burden"
and "DALYs per 100,000 population." Color scale and legend are clearly labeled.
A note explains data source (IHME GBD 2021) and year.
How to Use¶
- Hover any shaded region to see its short label and current metric value.
- Click a region to load its detail panel — top three NTDs by burden, illustrative DALY count, and preventive-chemotherapy program status.
- Use the NTD dropdown to filter the map to a single disease (for example, trachoma concentrates in East Africa and MENA; onchocerciasis in Central Africa). The color ramp rescales to the maximum of the selected NTD.
- Use the Metric dropdown to switch between total DALY burden (thousands) and DALYs per 100,000 population. The per-capita view reveals where the burden is most concentrated relative to population size.
- Click Reset to clear the selection and return both dropdowns to default.