SURVEILLANCE OF HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS INFECTION IN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Surveillance is an important component of any public health program. Data collection on die occurrence of a disease, consolidation of the data, analysis, interpretation and regular dissemination of die information to the staff involved in disease control programmes are important functions of surveillance. The ultimate objective of disease surveillance is to determine die extent of infections and die risk of disease transmission so that control measures can be applied effectively and efficiently. Surveillance data must, therefore, be current and complete in order to disclose die occurrence and distribution of disease. Various sources of data may be used for surveillance. Both passive and active surveillance are important in an epidemiological system as one can supplement the other.