Notifiable Disease : New Recommendation
An eminent New York-based oncologist welcomes a recent parliamentary committee recommendation to declare cancer a notifiable disease in India.
- A notifiable disease is any disease that is required by law to be reported to government authorities.
- Effective notification allows the authorities to monitor the disease and provides early warning of possible outbreaks.
- A notifiable disease is one for which regular and timely information regarding individual cases is considered necessary for the prevention and control of the disease.
- Criteria for Declaring a Disease as Notifiable may be:
- It is of interest to national or international regulations or control programs.
- Its national/ State/District incidence.
- Its severity (potential for rapid mortality).
- Its communicability/Its potential to cause outbreaks.
- Diseases which are considered to be serious menaces to public health are included in the list of notifiable diseases.
- Medical practitioners and diagnostic labs are required to notify the local health department of cases of notified diseases.
- In India, the State government is responsible for determining which diseases must be reported to the medical officer in their area and to notify the diseases.
- The government and regional authorities maintain a list of notifiable diseases in India, which is subject to change as new diseases are added or existing ones are removed.
- Examples: Cholera, tuberculosis, AIDS, dengue, hepatitis, leprosy, meningitis, plague, and measles.
- WHO’s International Health Regulations (1969): Mandates countries to report diseases for global surveillance and advisory purposes.
