
In 1970, only 7% of PubMed articles about surveillance (20/277) focused on methods, but that proportion rose to 60% by 2015 (7,400/12,400). The core role of surveillance systems within public health practice, and their concomitant capacity to greatly influence the efficiency and effectiveness of the public health system, has stimulated research to strengthen the scientific basis of public health surveillance. Public health surveillance contributes data and information to assess and characterize the burden and distribution of adverse health events, prioritize public health actions, monitor the impact of control measures, and identify emerging health conditions that may have a significant impact upon population health.



Public health surveillance, and by extension the systems used to enable surveillance, is central to the practice of modern public health.
