Notifiable Diseases

Notifiable Disease Latest News

An eminent New York-based oncologist welcomes a recent parliamentary committee recommendation to declare cancer a notifiable disease in India.

About Notifiable Disease

• 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.
  • Significant risk of international spread.
  • The socio-economic costs of its cases.
  • Its preventability.
  • Evidence that its pattern is changing.
• In other words, diseases which are considered to be serious menaces to public health are included in the list of notifiable diseases.
• Hence the list of notifiable diseases vary from
  • Country to country 
  • Within the same country
    • Between the States 
    • Between urban and rural areas
• Responsibility: 
  • 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.

Source: DEVD

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