A standardized process for developing a national notifiable diseases list in a pacific island setting

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Health Policy

Background:

• Developing a National Notifiable Diseases List requires a systematic prioritization process.
• Existing methods may not adequately address the complexities of infectious disease surveillance in island nations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To adapt a resource allocation method for prioritizing infectious diseases for a National Notifiable Diseases List.
• To create a transparent and objective system for disease prioritization.

Main Methods:

• An adapted method, originally for infectious disease resource allocation, was used.
• A stakeholder panel evaluated candidate diseases against 12 objective criteria.
• Weighted scores were assigned and diseases were ranked.

Main Results:

• A list of 22 urgently notifiable conditions was successfully created.
• The process was only incrementally better than consensus, requiring adjustments.
• The method showed potential for prioritizing public health resource allocation.

Conclusions:

• The adapted method offers a structured approach to notifiable disease selection.
• The process may be most valuable in situations with stakeholder disagreement.
• Further refinement could enhance its utility for national disease surveillance lists.