Surveillance and the National Center for Prevention Services

Five key surveillance issues faced by the National Center for Prevention Services for the next 10 years are: 1) developing surveillance for risk factors, 2) agreeing on and standardizing definitions, 3) integrating surveillance systems into general public health information systems, 4) integrating surveillance and public health information systems into patient care data systems, and 5) integrating health service and programmatic data into surveillance and public health information systems. Current technology and public health needs combine to make development of integrated, compatible surveillance and information systems essential, not just desirable.