Steps to a Sustainable Public Health Surveillance Enterprise

More than a decade into the 21st century, the ability to effectively monitor community health status, as well as forecast, detect, and respond to disease outbreaks and other events of public health significance, remains a major challenge. As an issue that affects population health, economic stability, and global security, the public health surveillance enterprise warrants the attention of decision makers at all levels. Public health practitioners responsible for surveillance functions are best positioned to identify the key elements needed for creating and maintaining effective and sustainable surveillance systems. This paper presents the recommendations of the Sustainable Surveillance Workgroup convened by the International Society for Disease Surveillance (ISDS) to identify strategies for building, strengthening, and maintaining surveillance systems that are equipped to provide data continuity and to handle both established and new data sources and public health surveillance practices.