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National Diabetes
Surveillance System (NDSS)
The National Diabetes Surveillance System (NDSS),
has been in development since 1996 with a broad stakeholder base
including the federal and all provincial/territorial governments,
non-governmental organizations, national Aboriginal groups, and
researchers. This diversity is reflected in the NDSS governance
structure. The Surveillance System provides a strategic support
function for the Canadian Diabetes Strategy. Following a three-year
period of development, NDSS is now in position to improve the collection
and dissemination of critical information on diabetes in Canada
by facilitating and coordinating the surveillance of diabetes nation-wide,
in each province and territory, and among Aboriginal communities.
As a first step, the NDSS will implement a standardized
model for the surveillance of certain "core" data. This
will yield comparable information on the incidence and prevalence
of diabetes, mortality, diabetes -associated diseases, and health-care
utilization rates for Canadians with and without diabetes. In time,
NDSS will provide baseline data on various aspects of diabetes and
its complications, identify high-risk groups/geographical areas,
and flag indicators and benchmarks of change (such as reductions
in new cases, improvements in the quality of care for people with
diabetes and improvements in their health outcomes). The activities
of the NDSS, and the information provided by the system will enhance
the ability of public health professionals at every level to develop
a more accurate picture of the problem. The overall outcome of the
NDSS will be an extensive data source that will provide effective
planning and evaluation opportunities toward diabetes prevention/control
programs, as well as more precise prevalence and incidence data
and projections.
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