Civil Registration and Vital Statistics: A Unique Source of Data for Policy

AbouZahr, Carla; Mathenge, Gloria; Sejersen, Tanja Brøndsted; Macfarlane, Sarah B.

doi:10.1057/978-1-137-54984-6_7

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Unlike other data sources, a functioning CRVS system generates precise and up-to-date demographic and health indicators, providing a continuous stream of vital statistics for local administrative areas. CRVS data can be used by decisions-makers in any sector to detect areas of population change and reallocate resources as needed [ 5 ]. Within the context of COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of having a system which can reliably and continuously track fertility rates, mortality rates, and cause-of-death distribution to support public health decisions has been highlighted [ 6 , 7 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Addressing the Evidence Gap in the Economic and Social Benefits of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems: A Systematic Review

et al. 2022

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Objectives: Considering the aspiration embedded in the Sustainable Development Goals to Leave No One Behind by 2030, civil registration and vital statistics systems have an essential role in providing reliable, up-to-date information to monitor the progress. Thus, the aim of this systematic review is to compile empirical evidence on the benefits of a functioning civil registration and vital statistics system.Methods: Selected databases were systematically searched until 2019. Key experts were also contacted for relevant literature. The review process was managed with the software EPPI-Reviewer and followed standard methods for systematic reviews.Results: A total of 18 studies were included. The findings revealed that having birth, death, and/or marriage registration, and vital statistics were associated with access to rights and protection, positive impact on economic and health outcomes, and increased access to education.Conclusion: The present review supports the idea that systemic approaches strengthen civil registration and vital statistics systems due to the cumulative effects of vital events’ registration. Ensuring appropriate systems for civil registration will have an impact not only on the individuals but also on the generations to come.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, CRVS systems also collect information on marriages, divorces, and adoptions [ 5 ]. Data on those vital events completes the demographic profile of countries and form the statistical foundation to understand citizens’ needs and design effective targeted policies [ 2 , 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing the Evidence Gap in the Economic and Social Benefits of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems: A Systematic Review

et al. 2022

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“…The preferred source for empirically derived causes of death is medical certificates of cause of death for deaths occurring in health facilities, mainly hospitals, and from the medico-legal death investigation system, where physicians ascertain the cause of death (COD) [ 9 ]. Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) systems are key instruments for such data [ 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving quality of medical certification of causes of death in health facilities in Tanzania 2014–2019

Nyondo

Msigwa

Cobos

et al. 2021

BMC Health Serv Res

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Background Monitoring medically certified causes of death is essential to shape national health policies, track progress to Sustainable Development Goals, and gauge responses to epidemic and pandemic disease. The combination of electronic health information systems with new methods for data quality monitoring can facilitate quality assessments and help target quality improvement. Since 2015, Tanzania has been upgrading its Civil Registration and Vital Statistics system including efforts to improve the availability and quality of mortality data. Methods We used a computer application (ANACONDA v4.01) to assess the quality of medical certification of cause of death (MCCD) and ICD-10 coding for the underlying cause of death for 155,461 deaths from health facilities from 2014 to 2018. From 2018 to 2019, we continued quality analysis for 2690 deaths in one large administrative region 9 months before, and 9 months following MCCD quality improvement interventions. Interventions addressed governance, training, process, and practice. We assessed changes in the levels, distributions, and nature of unusable and insufficiently specified codes, and how these influenced estimates of the leading causes of death. Results 9.7% of expected annual deaths in Tanzania obtained a medically certified cause of death. Of these, 52% of MCCD ICD-10 codes were usable for health policy and planning, with no significant improvement over 5 years. Of certified deaths, 25% had unusable codes, 17% had insufficiently specified codes, and 6% were undetermined causes. Comparing the before and after intervention periods in one Region, codes usable for public health policy purposes improved from 48 to 65% within 1 year and the resulting distortions in the top twenty cause-specific mortality fractions due to unusable causes reduced from 27.4 to 13.5%. Conclusion Data from less than 5% of annual deaths in Tanzania are usable for informing policy. For deaths with medical certification, errors were prevalent in almost half. This constrains capacity to monitor the 15 SDG indicators that require cause-specific mortality. Sustainable quality assurance mechanisms and interventions can result in rapid improvements in the quality of medically certified causes of death. ANACONDA provides an effective means for evaluation of such changes and helps target interventions to remaining weaknesses.

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Civil Registration and Vital Statistics: A Unique Source of Data for Policy

Cited by 2 publications

References 11 publications

Addressing the Evidence Gap in the Economic and Social Benefits of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems: A Systematic Review

Addressing the Evidence Gap in the Economic and Social Benefits of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems: A Systematic Review

Improving quality of medical certification of causes of death in health facilities in Tanzania 2014–2019

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