The WWW has generally not been used for transmitting public health surveillance data. The Web is good for delivering files from a central computer to end users, but it is clumsy for moving files in the other direction. Although this strategy permits only a basic sort of Web-based surveillance, it is an important beginning. Finally, the phenomenal success of the WWW threatens to clog the system. With thousands of new users gaining Internet access each month, transmission time is often unacceptabley slow.
Many popular sites are almost inaccessible at certain times of the day.
Some experts predict the Internet will collapse under its own weight within the next few years, despite efforts to expand and strengthen it. The World Wide Web is one of the the most exciting new resources available for public health practitioners. We cannot ignore the tremendous wealth of available public health information and the myriad potential uses of the Web for information sharing, training, research and data distribution. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, 1994. The rapid implementation of a statewide emergency health information system during a flood disaster.