It is the art of science and preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through WHO

3. The modern history of public health has been shaped
by advances in scientific knowledge and
technology, and growth in the public’s acceptance
that disease control is possible and a public health
responsibility. These advances have come from and
contributed to major expansion of epidemiologic
research and training, including the development of
epidemiology as an academic discipline.

4. Epidemiology is the cornerstone of public health,
and shapes policy decisions and evidence-based
practice by identifying risk factors for disease and
target for preventive health care.
Epidemiology, is derived from Greek word epi, which
means “the study of what is upon the people”.

5. Epidemiology is study of the patterns, causes, and
effects of health and disease conditions in defined
populations.

6. ABOUT
Epidemiology is concerned with the incidence of
disease in populations and does not address the
question of the cause of an individual’s disease.
This role has fundamental importance for public
health, since the best opportunities to prevent disease
and improve health often come from advances in basic
Understanding of the causes of the disease, the
development of new methods to study them, and the
assessment of preventive and control measures.

7. Disease burden is the impact of a health problem
as measured by financial cost, mortality, morbidity,
or other indicators. The environmental burden of
disease is defined as the number of DALYs that can
be attributed to environmental factors.
By 2014 DALYs per head where 40% higher in low-
income and middle-income regions.
.

8. MORBIDITY: The frequency with which a disease
appears in a population.
MORTALITY : The number of deaths in a given area
or period, or from a particular cause

9.  Prioritizing actions in health and the environment.
 Planning for preventive action.
 Assessing performance of health care systems.
 Comparing action and health gain.
 Identifying high-risk populations.
 Planning for future needs.
 Setting priorities in health research.

10. Disease surveillance is the
ongoing systematic collection
and analysis of data and the
provision of information which
leads to action being taken to
prevent and control a disease,
usually one of an infectious
nature.
Disease surveillance is an
epidemiological practice by
which the spread of disease is
monitored in order to establish
patterns of progression.

11. VPDs surveillance data is used to
guide immunization programs,
set priorities and can be used as
an early warning system to
identify public health
emergencies. Surveillance must
be used to monitor progress for
vaccination programs with
specific goals such as polio
eradication measles control or
elimination and maternal and
neonatal tetanus elimination.

12.  Sentinel surveillance.
 Active surveillance.
 National passive surveillance.
 Integrated surveillance.
 Categorical surveillance.
 Syndromic surveillance .
 Routine health information system.
 Behavioral risk factor surveillance system.