PHBRIEFS

Most Improved
The Georgia Violent Death Reporting System (GVDRS) is part of the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), funded by CDC in 18 states. It is a population-based surveillance system that collects information about violent deaths from several different sources, including death certificates, medical examiner and/or coroner records, law enforcement records, supplemental homicide reports, and crime laboratory records. The information is then pooled into a comprehensive, centralized database. The data are used to characterize violence trends and guide violence prevention programs, policies, and practices.

CDC evaluates data timeliness among NVDRS sites. Recently, Georgia had the most improved “Incidents Initiated within 180 days of Date of Death” among all the participating states. Georgia’s incident initiation percent increased from 22% for 2008 to 82% for 2009.

We congratulate the GVDRS staff for this achievement and thank them for their dedication and hard work. We also thank the Vital Records staff for their collaboration and assistance. –Cherie L. Drenzek, DVM, MS, State Epidemiologist; and A. Rana Bayakly, MPH, Director, Chronic Disease, Healthy Behaviors and Injury Epidemiology Section, Health Protection.

Home | Deep-Frying Turkey | Thanksgiving Dinner Droop | CDC Flu Shots | Premature Babies | Pharmacy Collaborative | Type 2 Diabetes | Rural Health Day | PHRECIPE | PHBRIEFS |  PHEVENTS | PHNEWS | PHPOLL