WHO–recommended standards f or surveillance of selected va ccine-preventable diseases

The purpose of this document is to provide WHO recommendations on surveillance standards for selected vaccine-preventable diseases. The recommendations should be carefully adapted to meet national needs in accordance with each country’s disease control priorities, objectives and strategies.

Disease surveillance is the routine ongoing collection, analysis and dissemination of health data. An effective surveillance system has the following functions: detection and notification of health events; collection and consolidation of pertinent data; investigation and confirmation (epidemiological, clinical and/or laboratory) of cases or outbreaks;routine analysis and creation of reports; feedback of information to persons providing data; feed-forward (i.e. the forwarding of data to more central levels). The rationale for the surveillance of a specific health event should be established and based on clear national priorities, disease control objectives and strategies. Otherwise the data collected may be irrelevant. What data to collect depends on the analyses that are needed to guide decision-making on matters of public health. In order not to overburden health staff at the peripheral levels the surveillance system should be as streamlined as possible, i.e. the minimum necessary amount of data should be collected. The most efficient and appropriate means of collecting, consolidating and transferring such data should be employed. Staff at all levels should be trained and encouraged to analyse and use their data. Data that can be more efficiently collected from other sources (e.g. surveys) should not be included in a surveillance system.