Facebook releases maps to help fight disease outbreak

SAN FRANCISCO: In a bid to fight disease outbreaks, Facebook has built new maps that can help its health partners better understand where people live, how they are moving and whether they have connectivity.

“All of these maps, when combined with information from health systems, can improve the way organisations deliver supplies and respond to outbreaks,” Laura McGorman and Alex Pompe, Data for Good, Facebook, wrote in a blog on Monday.

The high-resolution population density maps 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 high resolutions.