The National Notifiable Diseases Database (NDDB): A New Resource for Public Health

Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) ConferenceMay 27, 2014

Shivoan Balakumar, Project Manager, National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases.

Outline1) NCCPH and NCCID – Public health knowledge

translation

2) Notifiable disease (ND) reporting policy in Canada• Inaccuracies, Inconsistencies and Inefficiencies

3) The Notifiable Diseases Database (NDDB)• Objectives• Content• How it works

4) Discussion and Questions

The National Collaborating Centres for Public Health (NCCPH)

The National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCCID)

Objectives

• Encourage the integration of evidence of infectious diseases in public health programs, policies, and practices.

• Encourage collaborative responses by relevant stakeholders, including public health policy makers, practitioners, and researchers, to public health issues and needs in the area of infectious diseases

Past and Current Projects• Emerging Respiratory Infections• Influenza• Antimicrobial Resistance• HIV and STI Prevention• Outreach to Priority Populations

Visit www.nccid.

ca

Notifiable Disease Reporting in Canada

• A national notifiable disease is “distinguished from other infectious diseases by the requirement to report the instance of the disease, either nationally or internationally” (Public Health Agency of Canada).

• Reporting is mandated by provincial and territorial legislation (Public Health Act), but ND lists and other reporting details (e.g. case definitions) are generally outlined in associated regulations and communicable disease guidelines/manuals.

• Reporting is voluntary at the federal level (PHAC) and done by mutual agreement with provinces and territories

• Canada has an obligation under International Health Regulations to report to the WHO any event that may constitute a public health emergency of international concern.

Notifiable Disease Reporting in Canada

NCCID undertook a critical examination of ND reporting policy across Canada and learned that:

1) Jurisdictions vary significantly in:

a) What exactly must be reported (disease, degree of certainty, case definition, accompanying information, etc.)

b) Who must report the information (physicians, lab technologists, veterinarians, etc.)

c) How the information must be reported (location, method of submission, immediacy, etc.)

2) Jurisdiction-specific, ND reporting policy that is relevant for public health practitioners and policy makers is not easily retrievable or comparable

This may result in…

Notifiable Disease Reporting in Canada

A) Knowledge gaps and underreporting among those expected to report on notifiable diseases (Inaccuracies)

B) Jurisdictional disease counts that can/should not be compared (or aggregated) due to their qualitative differences (Inconsistencies)

C) Significant time dedicated to sifting through legislation, regulations and communicable disease manuals when trying to access relevant ND policy information (Inefficiencies)

…Inaccuracies, Inconsistencies, Inefficiencies

Enter…

The NDDB!

The Notifiable Diseases Database (NDDB)

1) To improve ND knowledge translation by providing a central location where federal/provincial/territorial (FPT) ND lists and legislated reporting requirements can be easily retrieved and compared

2) To stimulate discussion about ND case definitions and reporting criteria across Canada – help address legislative gaps and improve consistency of surveillance of notifiable diseases

Objectives

Target Users• Health care professionals• Public health officials• Policy makers• Researchers / Epidemiologists

www.nddb.ca (Fr: www.rmdo.ca)

The Notifiable Diseases Database (NDDB)

• A list of what specific diseases must be reported in each province and territory

• The degree of certainty that is required for reporting (confirmed, probable, suspect)

• The case definition for each disease

• Who must report the disease

• To whom diseases must be reported

• How quickly diseases must be reported

• A link to a source for the above information

Content

NDDB – Home Page

NDDB – Jurisdiction Search

NDDB – Jurisdiction Search Results

Jurisdictions

Notifiable Disease terms

NDDB – Disease Search

NDDB – Disease Search Results

NDDB – Disease Details

Case Definition

s

Reporting Requireme

nts

Source

NDDB – General Search

Smart Search

Box

Highlighted Results

NDDB - Discussion and Questions

www.nddb.ca (www.rmdo.ca)

www.nccid.ca (www.ccnmi.ca)

Acknowledgements

The Public Health Agency of Canada The International Centre for Infectious DiseasesProduction of this presentation has been made possible through the

financial contribution from the Public Health Agency of Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Thank You!