A surveillance system based on the collection of comparable and valid data is essential for evaluating the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD), their time trends and geographical distribution and for planning and implementing appropriate preventive programmes. To improve health and determine if such programmes are performing as planned and have achieved their goals, comparable and valid data are needed.

 

Therefore, the main objectives of the second phase of the EUROCISS Project (see the project description) were:

• to complete the technical and scientific work, begun during the first phase of the EUROCISS Project and necessary to finalize the list of indicators and the standardized procedures and methods of data collection that will assist Member States in producing reliable, valid and comparable data
• to develop knowledge, tools and expertise among Member States for CVD surveillance and prevention
• to assist in implementing recommendations for the development of population-based registers and surveys for monitoring temporal trends and geographical differences of CVD in Member States
• to create a network of Member States with expertise in chronic diseases surveillance, which will also serve to improve the coordination of other projects funded within the Public Health Programme.

Moreover, specific objectives of phase II were:

• to complete the inventory of sources of information and available data in Member States and finalize the list of recommended indicators for monitoring CVD
• to prepare the manual of operations for the implementation of surveillance systems for the collection and validation of indicators, in particular of population-based registers of myocardial infarction and stroke
• to prepare the manual of operations for the implementation of CVD surveys for the collection of standardized indicators, in particular for prevalence of ischemic heart disease, heart failure, stroke and other CVD, and to identify a minimum set of questions and exams to be included in the health information surveys/health examination surveys (HIS/HES) for evaluating the prevalence of CVD at the European level
• to train, at request, epidemiological teams of Member States interested in the development and improvement of surveillance systems of CVD, with particular emphasis on the implementation of registers and methods for validating data on myocardial infarction and stroke and conducting CVD surveys.

At the end of the second phase of the Project, a final report was developed. You may consult the whole version of the Report 2007 (pdf 1,8 Mb) or its single parts.