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

Asia Pac J Public Health. 2010 Jul;22(3):279-88. doi: 10.1177/1010539509342748. Epub 2009 Aug 10.

Abstract

The authors describe an adapted method, originally developed for infectious disease resource allocation, for prioritizing infectious diseases for inclusion in a Pacific island nation's National Notifiable Diseases List. Using a process that was systematic, transparent, objective, and addressed multiple criteria, a panel of stakeholders judged candidate diseases against 12 objective criteria and arrived at weighted scores for the diseases, which were then ranked. The result was the successful creation of a list of 22 urgently notifiable conditions. However, the process was only incrementally more useful than the use of consensus, and certain anomalies necessitated a reality check and adjustment of the final results. The process described herein may be more useful in settings where there is wide disagreement among stakeholders; it also appears more useful for its original purpose-prioritizing public health resource allocation for infectious disease control. The modifications discussed may make it more relevant to notifiable disease selection.

MeSH terms

  • Communicable Diseases / epidemiology*
  • Disease Notification / standards*
  • Humans
  • Pacific Islands / epidemiology
  • Population Surveillance / methods*
  • Reference Standards