Chapter 18: Surveillance Indicators

I. Role of Surveillance in Disease Elimination Programs In routine disease control programs, traditional, passive disease surveillance systems are usually adequate to meet program demands despite their limitations. In contrast, in disease elimination or eradication programs, routine surveillance activities are inadequate once the goal is near. In advanced disease elimination and eradication programs, every case counts. Without adequate surveillance, elimination of vaccine-preventable diseases cannot be achieved and sustained. This chapter describes the surveillance needs for diseases in various stages of prevention and control and discusses surveillance indicators that have been developed to evaluate the appropriateness, completeness, accuracy, and timeliness of surveillance systems.