- Meaning: A disease that is required to be reported to designated public-health authorities when diagnosed or suspected.
- Purpose:
- Disease surveillance
- Early outbreak detection
- Monitoring disease trends and spread
- Timely public-health intervention
- Reporting: Notification may be based on a confirmed or suspected case, depending on the applicable rules.
- Who reports: Doctors, hospitals, laboratories or other designated health establishments may have a mandatory reporting obligation.
- Legal framework: The exact list and reporting requirements are determined by the relevant national/state public-health laws and regulations.
- Dynamic list: The list of notifiable diseases can vary across jurisdictions and can be changed according to public-health priorities.
- Important distinction:
Notifiable disease ≠ automatically a communicable disease.
Prelims Practice Question – English
Q. With reference to a notifiable disease, consider the following statements:
- It is a disease whose diagnosed cases are required to be reported to designated public health authorities.
- Mandatory notification can strengthen disease surveillance and public health planning.
- Declaring a disease notifiable automatically provides a specific treatment protocol for every patient.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
A. 1 and 2 only
B. 2 and 3 only
C. 1 and 3 only
D. 1, 2 and 3
Answer: A
Explanation: A notifiable disease is one whose occurrence must be reported to specified health authorities. Such reporting strengthens surveillance, data collection and public health planning. However, notification itself does not automatically create a treatment protocol.
