This article {extract} was published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence Vol 34 No 3 September 2010 and may be downloaded as a full version PDF from the Table of contents page.

NNDSS Annual Report Writing Group

Abstract

In 2008, 65 communicable diseases and conditions were nationally notifiable in Australia. States and territories reported a total of 160,508 notifications of communicable diseases to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, an increase of 9% on the number of notifications in 2007. In 2008, the most frequently notified diseases were sexually transmissible infections (69,459 notifications, 43% of total notifications), vaccine preventable diseases (34,225 notifications, 21% of total notifications) and gastrointestinal diseases (27,308 notifications, 17% of total notifications). There were 18,207 notifications of bloodborne diseases; 8,876 notifications of vectorborne diseases; 1,796 notifications of other bacterial infections; 633 notifications of zoonoses and 4 notifications of quarantinable diseases. Commun Dis Intell 2010;34(3):157–225.

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Introduction

Australia's notifiable diseases status, 2008, is an annual surveillance report of nationally notifiable communicable diseases. Communicable disease surveillance in Australia operates at the national, state and territory, and local levels. Primary responsibility for public health action lies with the state and territory health departments. The purpose of communicable disease surveillance at a national level is to:

• identify national trends and compare the rates of specific diseases across Australia with national averages;
• guide policy development and resource allocation at a national level;
• monitor the need for and impact of national disease control programs;
• identify national or multi-jurisdictional outbreaks and coordinate a national response;
• describe the epidemiology of rare diseases in Australia;
• meet international reporting requirements, such as providing disease statistics to the World Health Organization (WHO); and
• support quarantine activities, which are the responsibility of the national government.