This project is a community and public engagement (CPE) initiative titled “MALARIA MAPS”, funded through the MORU Community and Public Engagement (CPE) Bursary under the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU). It is implemented by GroupMappers in collaboration with MORU and local administrative and health stakeholders in Bangladesh. The initiative focuses on strengthening community-informed understanding of malaria care access in remote and hard-to-reach areas of Bandarban District, with a specific focus on Noapara Union in Alikadam Upazila.

The project applies participatory mapping approaches to co-produce locally grounded evidence on how communities access malaria diagnosis and treatment services. Rather than relying solely on conventional technical mapping, the initiative actively engages community members, indigenous groups, local leaders, and health stakeholders to document real travel routes, seasonal barriers, and practical pathways to health facilities. This process generates both spatial data and community narratives that reflect lived experiences of healthcare access in geographically challenging terrain.

Implementation activities include early engagement with local authorities and community leaders, development of simplified community-friendly base maps, and ward-level participatory mapping sessions to document travel routes, barriers, and travel times. Additional activities include role-play exercises to understand care-seeking decision pathways, stakeholder workshops to validate findings, and dissemination of results through community and institutional platforms, including public display of final maps at ward and union levels.

The project produces ward-level co-created accessibility maps, community-generated insights on barriers and priorities, and an integrated accessibility map package for Noapara Union. These outputs are shared with local health facilities and administrative stakeholders to support improved communication between communities and service providers and to inform more context-sensitive malaria programme planning.