A computerized reporting system for notifiable diseases has been established that links China's 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities.
Since 1977, the Ministry of Public Health has convened annual meetings to analyze these data on the morbidity and mortality associated with infectious diseases.
After receiving approval from the Ministry of Public Health in 1986, the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine (CAPM) began to establish a nationwide microcomputer communication network.
After a year was spent establishing and modifying the system, a network that connected the capitals of 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities began operating in 1987.
Each month, all provinces transmit county-level summaries of the numbers of cases and deaths associated with 35 notifiable communicable diseases to the Academy of Preventive Medicine.
At the central node of NACTN, the academy's Center of Computer Science and Health Statistics compiles and analyzes the data, provides feedback to the provinces, and creates national summaries within one week.
In April, after the surveillance data have been reviewed at the national meeting on epidemic diseases, the MMAR and other analytical reports are distributed.
Because participation in the network was voluntary, the data collected were biased, even after attempts were made to adjust the sample to improve national representativeness.
We used stratified cluster random sampling to select 145 DSPs in 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, which have a combined population structure similar to that shown in the national census.
More importantly, policy makers can evaluate information from the DSPs in relation to the economic development, cultural background, and health-care-service use by the population covered by this surveillance system.
At present, the following activities are being undertaken: Samples of persons already monitored under existing DSPs will be used for data collection to address important and emerging public health issues.
Quality control (QC) in association with data collection (DC) has been an important component of disease-surveillance activities in China.
After risk factors were assessed and the impact of preventive programs on these chronic diseases was estimated, mortality rates were recalculated.