Each American state has its own Department of Public Health (DPH), which is responsible for maintaining and improving the citizens’ wellness. Georgian DPH is an institution aimed to prevent diseases and injuries, promote well-being at all levels, and design plans for disastrous situations. Georgia has both cancer and immunization registries – they are among the primary directions of the state DPH. These agencies collect and store data in order to trace statistics, observe trends, develop preventative measures and treatment, and create health-related initiatives.
The Georgia Comprehensive Cancer Registry (GNCC) collects all cancer cases of Georgia’s residents since 1995. GNCC gathers information which contributes to the general understanding of cancer as a chronic disease. Moreover, it helps develop new drugs, medical interventions, strategies, and policies to address the problem. The primary source of all GNCC’s data is “the Georgia Center for Cancer Statistics (GCCS) at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University as its agent for the purpose of collecting and editing cancer data” (“Georgia comprehensive cancer registry,” n.d., para. 2). For instance, it stores diagnoses with a specified stage, tumor size, treatment, prognostic factors, personal information, and several other aspects. The availability of these references allows health investigators to define racial, geographical, demographic, economic, and other disparities at the governmental level (“Georgia comprehensive cancer registry,” n.d.). Furthermore, it is helpful for prevalent risk factors identification as well as for comparing rates between other states. In addition, trends in morbidity and mortality can be measured to indicate the causes of a person’s disease and develop new treatments. Finally, such data collection encourages researchers to conduct more cancer-related investigation.
The other vital agency is The Georgia Immunization Registry (GRITS). According to the source, it was designed to store and maintain accurate, holistic, and up-to-date vaccination records in order to prevent and control the spread of contagious and non-contagious diseases. This registry’s primary goals are to ensure Georgian residents receive a timely vaccine and lead a healthy lifestyle. It is responsible for being user friendly and having cost-effective strategies. Moreover, its administration aspires to assist health representatives in assessing and promoting immunization among the population. Nevertheless, to assure that residents are aware of vaccination time, healthcare officials need related records. This information is collected in the GRITS database, which can be easily accessed by medical workers. Georgian inoculation providers are also able to retrieve patients’ immunization records in order to generate different reports on their status. For example, they may indicate the date of the last flu vaccination. Hence, it is vital to store all these data to avoid duplication and other health-related mistakes.
Disease reporting allows health officials to monitor the health of patients and helps inform outbreaks. This needs to be done promptly for any illness or state which requires immediate intervention. It also reveals disease trends in Georgia to control policy-making and resource allocation (“Georgia comprehensive cancer registry,” n.d.). All Georgia’s healthcare professionals must report patients with such conditions as plague, botulism, anthrax, Q fever, melioidosis, measles, smallpox, tularemia, rabies, hepatitis, and several others. These disorders are hazardous for everyone around since they demand instant cure and are considered as bioterrorism. The rest of them may be informed within a week, month, or other time intervals. Once the patient is diagnosed, they receive their analyses within a specified period.
Reference
Georgia comprehensive cancer registry. (n.d.). Georgia Department of Public Health. Web.