Importance of Public Health Surveillance in Determining Health Status and Intervention Needs

This article discusses the importance of public health surveillance in determining the health status and intervention needs of a population. It covers the criteria involved in public surveillance, the requirements for effective surveillance, and the use of epidemiology to establish determinants of hazards. The article emphasizes the need for clear understanding of the conditions affecting a locality to propose the most effective and practical public health intervention to curb the problem.

Public health surveillance is an instrument used to approximate the health status and the
mannerism of a population through the ministry of health to know what is going on in within a
given region. It is an important tool since it is used to measure if there is a need for intervention
and directly determining the effects of such intervention. Its main purpose is to empower
decision making by the management team to facilitate effective and timely provision of useful
evidence.
The criteria involved in public surveillance are;
 The feasibility and cost benefit of collecting the data required. This criterion tries to show
the importance of the surveillance.
 The strategy to be used for controlling and preventing hazard/ exposure or event.
 Determining the information needed to empower the intervention, which entails the
control strategy (Fairchild et al., 2017).
According to Dodsonet al. (2017), the requirement of an effective surveillance mainly include
finding out what the hazards are, identifying who may be at risk from being exposed to the
hazards. In addition to this, it involves deciding what to prevent harm to health for instance,
removing the hazard completely, and provision of protective equipment. Lastly, determination of
methods to be used to provide health surveillance to those who might still is exposed to certain
condition that is essential as it helps in eliminating the hazard in question. This requirements are
also valuable because can be used to measure the need for intervention.
The frequency and distribution pattern of health events in a certain region helps the surveillance
to determine the relationship of the data to the size of the population. Through this, the results

can be compared epidemiologically across different demographics through characterization of
health events by timeline, individuals and places involved (Rothenberg & Rothenberg 2005).
According to a report (Public Health and Health Management 2013), through this process of
epidemiology, the determinants of the hazards can be established analytically to a specified
population. Through this, the knowledge gained from studies can be used to make proper
diagnosis of diseases and prescription appropriate treatment for the victims. In summary this
entail coming up with clear understanding of the conditions affecting the locality so as to
propose the most effective and practical public health intervention to curb the problem.
References
Dodson, Z. M., Eun-Hye Enki Yoo, Martin-Gill, C., & Roth, R. (2018). Spatial Methods to
Enhance Public Health Surveillance and Resource Deployment in the Opioid
Epidemic. American Journal of Public Health, 108(9), 1191–1196. Retrieved from
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direct=true&db=s3h&AN=131143869&site=ehost-live
Epidemiology, Public Health and Health Management. (2013). Clinical & Experimental
Pharmacology & Physiology, 40, 44–46. Retrieved from
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direct=true&db=s3h&AN=90633688&site=ehost-live

Fairchild, A. L., Dawson, A., Bayer, R., &Selgelid, M. J. (2017).The World Health Organization,
Public Health Ethics, and Surveillance: Essential Architecture for Social Well-
Being. American Journal of Public Health, 107(10), 1596–1598.
https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2017.304019
S Rothenberg,.J., & Rothenberg, J. C. (2005).Testing the Dose-Response Specification in
Epidemiology: Public Health and Policy Consequences for Lead. Environmental Health
Perspectives, 113(9), 1190–1195. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.7691