Table 1.

World Health Organization criteria for screening

The condition sought should be an important health problem for the individual and community

There should be an accepted treatment or useful intervention for patients with the disease

Facilities for diagnosis and treatment should be available

There should be a recognizable latent or early symptomatic stage

There should be a suitable and acceptable screening test

The natural history of the disease, including development from latent to declared disease, should be adequately understood

There should be an agreed policy on whom to treat as patients

The cost (including diagnosis and treatment of patients diagnosed) should be economically balanced in relation to possible expenditure on medical care as a whole

Case-finding should be a continuing process and not a “once and for all” project

(Adapted from Wilson [29].)