[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 74 (Wednesday, April 17, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 18910]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-9385]
[[Page 18910]]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[30DAY-25-02]
Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a
list of information collection requests under review by the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call
the CDC Reports Clearance Officer at (404) 498-1210. Send written
comments to CDC, Desk Officer, Human Resources and Housing Branch, New
Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503. Written
comments should be received within 30 days of this notice.
Proposed Project: Weekly Morbidity and Mortality Reports and Annual
Morbidity Series--OMB #0920-0007--Extension--Epidemiology Program
Office (EPO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In
1878, Congress authorized the U.S. Marine Hospital Service (later
renamed the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS)) to collect morbidity
reports on cholera, smallpox, plague, and yellow fever from U.S.
consuls overseas; this information was to be used for instituting
quarantine measures to prevent the introduction and spread of these
diseases into the United States. In 1879, a specific Congressional
appropriation was made for the collection and publication of reports of
these notifiable diseases. The authority for weekly reporting and
publication was expanded by Congress in 1893 to include data from state
and municipal authorities throughout the United States. To increase the
uniformity of the data, Congress enacted a law in 1902 directing the
Surgeon General of the Public Health Service (PHS) to provide forms for
the collection and compilation of data and for the publication of
reports at the national level.
Reports on notifiable diseases were received from very few states
and cities prior to 1900, but gradually more states submitted monthly
and annual summaries. In 1912, state and territorial health authorities
in conjunction with PHS recommended immediate telegraphic reports of
five diseases and monthly reporting by letter of 10 additional
diseases, but it was not until after 1925 that all states reported
regularly. In 1942, the collection, compilation, and publication of
morbidity statistics, under the direction of the Division of Sanitary
Reports and Statistics, PHS, was transferred to the Division of Public
Health Methods, PHS.
A PHS study in 1948 led to a revision of the morbidity reporting
procedures, and in 1949 morbidity reporting activities were transferred
to the National Office of Vital Statistics. Another committee in PHS
presented a revised plan to the Association of State and Territorial
Health Officers (ASTHO) at its meeting in Washington, DC, October 1950.
ASTHO authorized a Conference of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
(CSTE) for the purpose of determining the diseases that should be
reported by the states to PHS. Beginning in 1951, national meetings of
CSTE were held every two years until 1974, then annually thereafter.
In 1961, responsibility for the collection of data on nationally
notifiable diseases and deaths in 122 U.S. cities was transferred from
the National Office of Vital Statistics to CDC. For 37 years the
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) has consistently served as
CDC's premier communication channel for disease outbreaks and trends in
health and health behavior. In collaboration with the Council of State
and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), CDC has demonstrated the
efficiency and effectiveness of computer transmission of data. The data
collected electronically for publication in the MMWR provides
information which CDC and State epidemiologists use to detail and more
effectively interrupt outbreaks. Reporting also provides the timely
information needed to measure and demonstrate the impact of changed
immunization laws or a new therapeutic measure.
Users of data include, but are not limited to, congressional
offices, state and local health agencies, health care providers, and
other health related groups.
The dissemination of public health information is accomplished
through the MMWR series of publications. The publications consist of
the MMWR, the CDC Surveillance Summaries, the Recommendations and
Reports, and the Annual Summary of Notifiable Diseases. The estimated
annualized burden is 4,654 hours.
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Number of Frequency of Average time of
Type of respondents respondents response response
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State and Local Health Departments........................... 179 52 30/60
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Dated: April 10, 2002.
Nancy E. Cheal,
Acting Associate Director for Policy, Planning and Evaluation, Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 02-9385 Filed 4-16-02; 8:45 am]
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