Public Health Surveillance

Public health surveillance enables public health practitioners to assess and monitor changes in the population’s health and make recommendations for action. The systematic, ongoing collection, analysis and dissemination of data ensures that the right information is available at the right time to inform public health action. This chapter will introduce you to the key concepts and objectives of public health surveillance, and will help you to understand how effective surveillance systems are based on four basic steps: data collection, analysis, interpretation and response. This chapter will also help you to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the different surveillance systems which are used to collect information on public health. The chapter concludes with a look at how advances in technology, social media and the internet are shaping the future of public health surveillance. After reading this chapter you will be able to: Describe the purpose and key features of public health surveillance. Describe the basic steps which underpin public health surveillance systems. Define different surveillance systems and critically compare their advantages and disadvantages.