Chronic disease surveillance in Canada : Surveillance des maladies chroniques au Canada : document de référence

Surveillance is defined as “tracking and forecasting any health event or health determinant through the ongoing collection of data, the integration, analysis and interpretation of that data into surveillance products and the dissemination of that resultant surveillance product to those who need to know.”5 Surveillance is a cornerstone of public health; its purpose is to provide the information nee [...] The Canadian Institute for Health Information(CIHI) is mandated to coordinate the development and maintenance of a comprehensive and integrated approach to health information for Canada; and to provide and coordinate the provision of accurate and timely data and information. [...] It provides information on the distribution and trends for determinants and outcomes, provides profiles of sub-populations with elevated risk; estimates the burden of a disease in a population, and associated health care utilization; informs allocation of resources and services (at local, provincial and national levels); and provides, over time, evidence of effectiveness of interventions. [...] Surveillance is also necessary to provide timely and credible information for quality assessment improvement, and tracking of indicators of health system performance relative to quality and cost - the interim report on Canada’s Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada identifies improved accountability as a way to address quality issues in the health care system, citing the need to contin [...] Key players in chronic disease surveillance include the individuals from whom health information is collected, the health care providers who produce and use the surveillance data for planning and intervention at every level, and the organizations that conduct surveillance or use surveillance products.