Cancer and chronic disease surveillance in British Columbia.

The British Columbia Health Surveillance Registry recorded morbidity information on a number of chronic and disabling diseases. The Cancer Register, the largest within the agency, achieved good ascertainment of neoplasms within the Province. In 1973, a total of 8.397 new cancer cases, excluding cases of carcinoma in situ, were diagnosed and reported. The general register ascertained congenital anomalies and other physical and mental disabilities within British Columbia. At the end of 1971, approximately 20,111 anomalies had been recorded. The Record Linkage Program currently underway in British Columbia will eventually link records of cancer, congenital anomalies, live births, marriages, and other vital events on a continuing basis for research purposes.