Implementation of chronic disease risk factor surveillance in 12 Cuban municipalities.
Chronic non-communicable diseases have been called the pandemic of the 21st century and constitute a high-priority public health challenge; hence growing interest in chronic disease risk factor surveillance. Cuba is implementing decentralized risk factor surveillance in each of its municipalities as part of a strategy to address non-communicable diseases. Decentralized surveillance with this level of detail and explicitly designed to inform municipal and provincial decisionmaking is unprecedented in Cuba. We describe the methodology for planning and implementing measurement of major risk factors in 12 municipalities in 10 provinces, as part of Cuba's National Surveillance System. The results have facilitated timely use of information and evidence-based decisionmaking at the local level.
Epidemiology and Microbiology Institute, Havana, Cuba. patricia.varona@infomed.sld.cu.
Patricia
P
Varona
Mariano
M
Bonet
René
R
García
Martha
M
Chang
Ramón
R
Suárez
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D040343:Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; D002908:Chronic Disease; D002947:Cities; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003462:Cuba; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016730:Program Development; D055815:Young Adult