Surveillance Guide for Vaccine-Preventable Diseases in the WHO South-East Asia Region (‎Strategic guidance on VPD surveillance in the WHO South-East Asia Region)‎

Overview

Public health surveillance is the continuous and systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of health-related data needed for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health practice (1). Surveillance for vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) is similar to other types of disease surveillance in the matter of design (2). VPD surveillance is of vital importance for its potential to inform policy. It is also of great value in the monitoring of immunization programmes, including the introduction and coverage of vaccines and their potential use in outbreak response. Surveillance also helps to detect changes in the epidemiology of VPDs over time due to vaccination and other preventive measures. As the burden of a VPD decreases, the objectives and design of the surveillance system may shift. This document provides standards for the design and implementation of VPD surveillance to meet the objectives of immunization programmes.