Workshop on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region, Blantyre, Malawi, 1 – 5 December 2008 Integration and coordination in the civil registration and vital statistics systems

Workshop on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region, Blantyre, Malawi, 1 – 5 December 2008 Presentation plan 1.Civil registration system and coordination within the system 2.Vital statistics system and coordination within the system 3.Coordination between the two systems

Workshop on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region, Blantyre, Malawi, 1 – 5 December 2008 Why coordinate?  Improve coverage and accuracy of civil registration  Improve availability and quality of vital statistics, generated from the civil registration system

Workshop on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region, Blantyre, Malawi, 1 – 5 December 2008 Civil registration system – centralized (dual agencies) Interior, home affairs, Justice or Health National Statistics, planning or finance Coordinating committee Civil Registration Vital Statistics Regional level Local level

Workshop on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region, Blantyre, Malawi, 1 – 5 December 2008 Civil registration system - decentralized Professional association/working committee National office CR/VS General legal oversight or cooperative, advisory State/province level Local level

Workshop on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region, Blantyre, Malawi, 1 – 5 December 2008 Coordination in the civil registration system  Uniform legislation and regulation nationwide: procedure for each registration function is clearly stated in a manual and disseminated at each level Legal requirement for reporting vital events Definitions of vital events Design and use of collection forms Training, education and publicity campaigns Copy issuance Burial permits, recognitions, legitimations, adoptions, amendments and delayed registration Coding, data-entry and verification methods Classifications and tabulations Changes to current year records  In a decentralised system, one has to: enforce consistency among states/provinces, use of joint-government committees or professional association might assist

Workshop on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region, Blantyre, Malawi, 1 – 5 December 2008 Coordination in the civil registration system  Inter-agency coordinating committee with each reporting source – evaluating and monitoring the completeness and reliability of registration procedure  Hospitals, clinics, courthouses, private physicians, midwives, funeral directors, cemetery operators  Inspect records in other sources, site visits, communication With users and potential users of civil registration records and vital statistics – strengthening the demand and attention to civil registration  Family planning programmes, immunization campaigns

Workshop on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region, Blantyre, Malawi, 1 – 5 December 2008 Coordination in the civil registration system  Other communications Communication with next level administration (between local registration office, regional level and national level) – provide motivation, establish protocols, and integrate local operations within national programme  Communication in both directions  Periodic meeting  Site visits

Workshop on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region, Blantyre, Malawi, 1 – 5 December 2008 Vital statistics system  It collects information by civil registration or enumeration on the frequency of occurrence of specified and defined vital events as well as relevant characteristics of the events themselves and of the persons concerned  The production of vital statistics covers all the steps from the data collection up to their dissemination: collection, compilation, processing, analysis, evaluation, presentation and dissemination of data in statistical forms

Workshop on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region, Blantyre, Malawi, 1 – 5 December 2008 Sources of data for the vital statistics system The vital statistics Samples surveys Population census Civil registration Sample registration Health services Administrative records

Workshop on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region, Blantyre, Malawi, 1 – 5 December 2008 Coordination in the vital statistics system  Uniform legislation and regulation nationwide, across all sources Definition of vital events Characteristics of persons experiencing these events (occupation, education attainment, place of usual residence etc) Coding scheme, classifications Base population – for vital rates (residents/non- residents/both, defined sub-geographic areas)

Workshop on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region, Blantyre, Malawi, 1 – 5 December 2008 Coordination in the vital statistics system  Good communication among various offices – uniform processes and practices are followed at every level throughout the system Both directions Periodic workshops and conferences, national conventions, newsletters, traveling field consultants and communications through electronic networks

Workshop on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region, Blantyre, Malawi, 1 – 5 December 2008 Coordination in the vital statistics system  Inter-agency coordinating committee With reporting sources With users At least once a year

Workshop on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region, Blantyre, Malawi, 1 – 5 December 2008 Civil registration and vital statistics system Institutional, legal, technical settings to conduct civil registration in a technical, sound, coordinated and standardized manner throughout the country Hospital Midwife, father, mother, other Local registration office Central office (national level) National Statistics office

Workshop on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region, Blantyre, Malawi, 1 – 5 December 2008 Vital statistics obtained from civil registration data Registration forms Vital recordStatistical report - Component of the register - Needs to be preserved in a formal and permanent way - Checked and transmitted to the institutions responsible for vital statistics Note: In some countries and for certain events, the same form is used as: Legal document/Medical certificate/Statistical report Thus, the same document is used as proof of the occurrence of the event, as the vital record and statistical report

Workshop on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region, Blantyre, Malawi, 1 – 5 December 2008 Coordination between civil registration and vital statistics systems  Define clear administrative and management roles  Coordinating committee Legal issues, operational perspectives or ad-hoc Time table for data reporting from local office to central office Monitoring data reporting: accurate, timely and complete Standardised coding systems, data editing and tabulation  Consistent definitions and standards – made widely available Definitions of vital events Geographic areas, health care facilities and demographic variables – hospital-based mortality and natality data for comparison purposes Coding of vital events – cause of deaths coding Coding of special conditions on birth records – abnormality? Social-economic variables – education, occupation Consistent with international standards

Workshop on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region, Blantyre, Malawi, 1 – 5 December 2008 Coordination and integration – points to retain  No matter what kind of system is adopted, coordination is always crucial  Four basic strategies: Clear designation of responsibilities Uniform regulations and standards Inter- or intra-agency committees Communications, communications, communications!

Workshop on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region, Blantyre, Malawi, 1 – 5 December 2008 THANK YOU!