Health Risk Science - Health Surveillance

Health surveillance systems are established to provide a means of monitoring, collecting and analyzing data and disseminating information to decision makers to protect the health of individuals. Surveillance systems commonly exist in different levels including locally, nationally and internationally. Objectives of health surveillance system vary from either disease or outcome based and product or risk factor based. A surveillance system broadly established in hospital settings is an injury surveillance system. Another existing surveillance system is cancer registries which is disease focused. Some countries have created a surveillance system know as pharmacovigilance, monitoring adverse drug reactions from pharmaceutical products in regards to post-market drug safety. This type of surveillance system is classified as product focused. Air quality monitoring systems in major metropolitan areas measure concentration of well-known air pollutants. National influenza programs are important to collect data and information from multiple sources in order to monitor trends and help prepare for emerging epidemics.