The fundamental purpose of screening is early diagnosis and treatment of the individual and thus has a clinical focus. The fundamental purpose of surveillance is to detect and eliminate the underlying causes such as hazards or exposures of any discovered trends and thus has a prevention focus.
What is a medical surveillance program?
Medical surveillance describes activities that target health events or a change in a biologic function of an exposed person or persons. A surveillance program involves recurrent longitudinal examinations and data analysis over time.
