Enhancing global capacity in the surveillance, prevention, and control of chronic diseases

April 19, 2008 by News Editor

B C K Choi¹, D V McQueen², P Puska³, K A Douglas⁴, M Ackland⁵, S Campostrini⁶, A Barceló⁷, S Stachenko⁸, A H Mokdad⁹, R Granero¹⁰, S J Corber¹¹, A-J Valleron¹², H A Skinner¹³, R Potemkina¹⁴, M C Lindner¹⁵, D Zakus¹⁶, L M de Salazar¹⁷, A W P Pak¹⁸, Z Ansari¹⁹, J C Zevallos²⁰, M Gonzalez²¹, A Flahault²², R E Torres²³

Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health - May 2008 - Volume 62, Number 5

Website: http://jech.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/62/5/391

Background: Chronic diseases are now a major health problem in developing countries as well as in the developed world. Although chronic diseases cannot be communicated from person to person, their risk factors (for example, smoking, inactivity, dietary habits) are readily transferred around the world. With increasing human progress and technological advance, the pandemic of chronic diseases will become an even bigger threat to global health.

Methods: Based on our experiences and publications as well as review of the literature, we contribute ideas and working examples that might help enhance global capacity in the surveillance of chronic diseases and their prevention and control. Innovative ideas and solutions were actively sought.

Results: Ideas and working examples to help enhance global capacity were grouped under seven themes, concisely summarised by the acronym "SCIENCE": Strategy, Collaboration, Information, Education, Novelty, Communication and Evaluation.

Conclusion: Building a basis for action using the seven themes articulated, especially by incorporating innovative ideas, we presented here, can help enhance global capacity in chronic disease surveillance, prevention and control. Informed initiatives can help achieve the new World Health Organization global goal of reducing chronic disease death rates by 2% annually, generate new ideas for effective interventions and ultimately bring global chronic diseases under greater control.

“….This paper extends the ideas set forth in a previous paper on chronic disease surveillance in the Americas .²¹ In that paper, seven important themes were recommended for enhancing capacity in the surveillance of chronic disease, themes that can be remembered through the acronym
"SCIENCE": Strategy, Collaboration, Information, Education, Novelty, Communication and Evaluation.
This paper discusses these themes within a context that adds prevention and control……”

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