Congenital eye anomaly surveillance in England and Wales. How effective is the national system?

摘要

Surveillance is defined as 'the ongoing systematic collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of data, reflecting the current status of a community or population'.1 Congenital anomaly surveillance is important in improving the health of children,2 and anomaly registers are well established in many high-income countries. The data collected can be used to detect geographical clustering of cases or temporal trends, both of which may indicate change in exposure to harmful environmental agents. The data also serve to inform service planning and medical/ epidemiological research.