title: Surveillance of communicable diseases in tropical Africa.
abstract: In tropical Africa, parasitic and infective diseases remain the predominant causes of mortality and morbidity, and health and epidemiological services are poorly developed. Experience elsewhere has shown the value of surveillance in the control of communicable diseases and this paper contains a brief review of the use of surveillance in tropical African countries and considers the priorities, techniques and constraints of the major programmes.
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D003140:Communicable Disease Control; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003710:Demography; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D006801:Humans; D011159:Population Surveillance; D014330:Tropical Medicine; D014944:World Health Organization