How we work

Our methods:

Tropical Data follows on from the highly successful Global Trachoma Mapping Project (GTMP), which ran from 2012-2015, completing baseline mapping in all accessible suspected trachoma-endemic districts. It was successful in mapping 905 Evaluation Units across 29 countries and demonstrated the importance of standardised approaches in scaling up disease elimination efforts. 

Following GTMP’s conclusion in 2016, Tropical Data was established to continue the work, with an expanded remit to support trachoma impact, surveillance and TT-only surveys. The one other key difference between the two is that GTMP funded field implementation as well as technical support, whereas Tropical Data focuses on technical support and does not fund in-country implementation due to the increased scope. It does however build upon the GTMP methodologies, with adaptations and innovations based on updated global recommendations, feedback and scientific developments.  

A publication detailing Tropical Data methods can be found here. More recent updates and adaptations made to our methods in 2023 are outlined here.


Our principles:

We are guided by our principles which you can read here.


Data management & sharing:

All data collected are owned by the respective health ministry and accessed through a secure web portal. The data are stored, in encrypted form, on a dedicated section of a cloud-based server. Access to data is controlled by an appropriate health ministry representative (such as the National Trachoma Programme Coordinator). If you would like more details about the different levels of data access or data management generally, please visit our data management resources or review our FAQs. 

Our data team based at ITI have access to the data management platform to fulfil their role in supporting countries with data cleaning, analysis and approvals. The Tropical Data Chief Scientist is granted access to projects to provide a “final-for-Tropical Data” review once data have been analysed. This is to help ensure epidemiologic robustness of data ahead of the final approval of data by the health ministry.

To promote data sharing and reduce the reporting burden on health ministries, Tropical Data has integrated with other systems. Countries are given the option to automatically share district-level point prevalence results with the joint WHO/ITI GET2020 database. The data in this database are used to pre-populate applications for donated drugs and/or the Trachoma Elimination Monitoring Form (TEMF) and/or to support preparation of dossiers for validation of trachoma elimination submitted to WHO. Tropical Data also asks health ministries to opt in to sharing their district-level prevalence category data with two open-access tools, the Trachoma Atlas and, for countries in the WHO African region, the ESPEN portal.

Please note that while access to the data management portal is controlled by the relevant health ministry representative, access to our survey application portal is open to all stakeholders. Our survey application portal is open to any individual wishing to create a project submission to inform us of upcoming surveys, share a protocol and add project stakeholders with access to view and edit the submission. Having access to a project’s survey application and finalised protocol does not automatically entitle users access to a project’s survey data; this access should be discussed with the relevant health ministry representative.