Chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and chronic lung disease, are common and costly, yet they also are among the most preventable health problems. Surveillance systems focused on chronic diseases have a potentially key role in reducing this health toll. Currently, surveillance data are collected from a variety of sources, often with beneficial results. But a critical link is missing: there is no surveillance system that operates on a national basis and in a coordinated manner to integrate current and emerging data on chronic diseases and generate timely guidance for stakeholders at the local, state, regional, and national levels.
To help close this gap, two federal health agenciesthe National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, and the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention of the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionturned to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) for advice. Specifically, the agencies asked the IOM to appoint a study committee to develop a framework for building a national chronic disease surveillance system focused primarily on cardiovascular and chronic lung diseases. The agencies specified that the system should be capable of providing data on disparities in incidence and prevalence of the diseases by race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geographic region, along with data on disease risk factors, clinical care delivery, and functional health outcomes. A Nationwide Framework for Surveillance of Cardiovascular and Chronic Lung Diseases presents the committee’s findings and recommendations.
. . . there is no surveillance system that operates on a national basis and in a coordinated manner to integrate current and emerging data on chronic diseases and generate timely guidance for stakeholders at the local, state, regional, and national levels.