[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 168 (Friday, August 29, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52040-52041]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-22101]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[60Day-02-112]
Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and
Recommendations
In compliance with the requirement of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for opportunity for public comment on
proposed data collection projects, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects.
To request more information on the proposed projects or to obtain a
copy of the data collection plans and instruments, call the CDC Reports
Clearance Officer at (404) 639-7090.
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents,
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other
forms of information technology. Send comments to Seleda Perryman, CDC
Assistant Reports Clearance Officer, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-D24,
Atlanta, GA 30333. Written comments should be received within 60 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. Congress expanded the authority for weekly
reporting and publication 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 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. There are no
costs to respondents.
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Number of Frequency of Average time of Annual hour
Type of respondents respondents response response burden
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State and Local Health Departments.......... 179 52 30/60 4,654
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[[Page 52041]]
Total................................... ............... ............... ............... 4, 654
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Dated: August 25, 2003.
Nancy E. Cheal,
Acting Associate Director for Policy, Planning and Evaluation, Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 03-22101 Filed 8-28-03; 8:45 am]
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