Welcome to the CRVS Knowledge Gateway

Brazil's health data: How have they improved so much and so quickly?

Interview with Dr Mohsen Naghavi, Professor of Global Health at the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. Filmed in October 2017 during the Meeting on Improving the Quality of Information on Causes of Death in Brazil in Recife, Brazil.

O que é ANACONDA? Uma perspectiva brasileira / What is ANACONDA? A Brazilian perspective

The D4H team at the University of Melbourne spoke to the Brazilian ANACONDA trainer and statistician for the Ministry of Health, Ana Claúdia Medeiros de Souza, about initial feedback of the ANACONDA tool in October 2017.

Launch of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative in Colombia

Laureate Professor Alan Lopez AC, CRVS Technical Director of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative from the University of Melbourne describes interventions that Colombia will use to improve their cause of death data.

ANACONDA

ANACONDA course introduction. Presenter: Senior Technical Advisor, Dr Lene Mikkelsen

Completeness of birth and death registration

Completeness of birth and death registration course introduction. Presenter: Principal Research Fellow, Dr Tim Adair

Enterprise architecture/business process mapping

Enterprise architecture/business process mapping course introduction. Presenter: Senior Technical Advisor, Dr Carla AbouZahr

ICD-10

ICD-10 course introduction. Presenter: Research Fellow, Dr Vindya Kumarapeli

Medical certification of cause of death (MCCOD)

Medical certification of cause of death course introduction. Presenter: Senior Technical Advisor, Dr Tim Moore

Verbal autopsy costing tool

Verbal autopsy costing tool course introduction. Presenter: Senior Technical Advisor, Dr Carla AbouZahr

Barriers to death notification in the Solomon Islands

What are the barriers to death notification in the Solomon Islands and how does the country plan to use innovative methods to improve data? Dilip Hensman, Technical Officer, World Health Organization explains. Watch Dilip describe the outcomes to improved death data: https://youtu.be/ILg_E0M6iUs

From death notification to registration (Bangladesh)

Mohamad Ashfaque Mukut, Deputy Secretary Cabinet Division (Bangladesh) and Deputy Project Director of the CRVS Technical Project, shares his fellowship work at the University of Melbourne that looks at a recent pilot in Kaliganj, Bangladesh that encourages health staff to notify community deaths.

Filling the gaps in Bangladesh's mortality data

University of Melbourne Fellow Dr Muhammad Adnan Khan, who is Assistant Chief Medical in the Director General (Health) in Bangladesh discusses the data quality of the medical certification of cause of death in Bangladesh.

Analysis of Bangladesh's verbal autopsy pilot in Kaligang

University of Melbourne Data for Health Fellow Mr Saiful Islam, Statistician for the Ministry of Health and Family Planning, Bangladesh discusses how Bangladesh is working to improve cause of death data in community settings, through analysis of the Data for Health verbal autopsy pilot in the sub-district of Kaligang Upazila (under the Gazipur District).

What are the preliminary findings of using HBCPs as verbal autopsy interviewers in Rwanda?

Marc Hagenimana from the Rwanda Biomedical Center, Ministry of Health and University of Melbourne Data for Health Fellow discusses the findings of Rwanda's use of Health-Based Care Practitioners as verbal autopsy interviewers in the country.

Implementing MCCOD in all public hospitals in Rwanda

How did Rwanda implement standardised MCCOD training across all public hospitals? Godfrey Ngoboka, Rwanda Country Coordinator, and James Mwanza, Rwanda Project Officer from Vital Strategies, explain the approach.

Fellowship profile with Xavier Ngomituje

Interview with Xavier Ngomituje, Statistician at the National Institute of Statistics Rwanda on what he is working on during his fellowship at the University of Melbourne as part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative. Read Xavier's fellowship report: https://crvsgateway.info/file/5452/1977

Indonesia's path to identify the country's leading causes of death

How will Indonesia's verbal autopsy work evolve during the Data for Health Initiative, how important are mortality statistics and what are and what do we already know about mortality trends in the country? An interview with Soewarta Kosen from the National Institute of Health Research and Development in Indonesia, filmed in February 2018.

Lessons learned from the Beijing verbal autopsy (VA) pilot

Dr Peng Yin from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention discusses the barriers to verbal autopsy in Beijing, VA data quality and next steps for implementation. Filmed in February 2018.

Tanzania's commitment to improved civil registration and vital statistics

This short video is an overview of CRVS in Tanzania, and highlights videos that provide a more in-depth understanding of their system and improvements as part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative.

Tanzanian Ministry of Health perspective: How is Data for Health doing?

Edward Mbanga, Ag. Director for Policy and Planning at Tanzania's Ministry of Health, Community Development, Elderly and Children agency describes the successes so far of improving health information and its use as a result of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative.

Improving our understanding of births and deaths in Tanzania

RITA, the agency responsible for birth and death registration in Tanzania shares their progress on their legal and regulatory review, decentralisation of birth and death registration, system sustainability and use of technology.

Challenges to timely and sensitive death certification in Tanzania

Godfrey M Semu, Health Record and Information Officer at the Muhimbili National Hospital describes the challenges to timely death certification in Tanzania.

Educating Tanzanian physicians on the value of accurate assignments for underlying cause of death

Godfrey M Semu, Health Record and Information Officer at the Muhimbili National Hospital explains how the hospital is rolling out medical certification of death training.

The Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative in Sri Lanka

Video with Technical Director of the Data for Health Initiative at the University of Melbourne, Professor Alan Lopez on Sri Lanka's work to improve civil registration and vital statistics.

SmartVA DHIS2 Integration | Sri Lanka (e-SmartVA)

Video by Dr Chamika Senanayake (Sri Lanka). More info: https://crvsgateway.info/SmartVA-DHIS2-Integration-Sri-Lanka-e-SmartVA-~2402

Verbal autopsy: from research to field

How did verbal autopsy (VA) work evolve from research settings? Riley Hazard, University of Melbourne Research Assistant, shares a brief overview of how verbal autopsy has continued to evolve as a result of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative. More on SmartVA: crvsgateway.info/SmartVA~547

Filipino Ministry of Health: Ways to improve death certification

Dr Ferchito L Avelino, Officer in Charge at the Philippine Department of Health, Epidemiology Bureau shares his previous experience as a Rural Health Physician and the challenges he experienced certifying deaths, at the Smart Verbal Autopsy Evaluation Workshop in Manila, February 2018.

How enterprise architecture has improved CRVS in Bangladesh

Anir Chowdhury, Policy Advisor for the Access to Information Programme (a2i) at the Prime Minister's Office in Bangladesh, and National Advisor to the CRVS Steering Committee, Cabinet Division explains how the country improved registration through enterprise architecture.

Innovation collaboration with Swiss TPH

What are people dying of in Greenland and why?

Greenland's cause of death data have only recently been separated from Denmark in the Global Burden of Disease Study. University of Melbourne Data for Health Initiative visiting academic Kim Moesgaard Iburg is Associate Professor at Aarhus University in Denmark, he is studying how the quality of these data can be improved to further benefit the direction of health policy in the country.

Outcomes of improving death data in Solomon Islands

Strengthening CRVS in Solomon Islands is a challenge because data, especially death data, have never been collected before in an organised manner. Only two percent of all estimated deaths are registered in the country. Dilip Hensman, Technical Officer, World Health Organization explains. Watch Dilip describe the barriers to death notification in the Solomon Islands: https://youtu.be/9F4ntk7xtCk

Linking civil registration and vital statistics data in Brazil to estimate completeness

Luiz Fernando from the IBGE (Brazilian Federal Institute of Geography and Statistics) and Fellow at the University of Melbourne Data for Health Initiative explains his work to link civil registration and vital statistics data in Brazil to estimate completeness.

SmartVA/DHIS2 Integration in Sri Lanka

Dr Chamika Senanyake from the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine in Sri Lanka and Fellow at the University of Melbourne Data for Health Initiative explains his work integrating Smart Verbal Autopsy (SmartVA) and DHIS-2 in Sri Lanka. Dr Senanyake has created a tutorial video about integration that you can view here: https://youtu.be/E66tnNV2rko

Estimating completeness of death registration and assessing quality of cause of death data

Marjorie Villaver from the Philippine Statistics Authority explains her work to estimate completeness of death registration and assess the quality of cause of death data at the national and subnational levels.

Up-skilling Filipino physicians in underlying cause of death diagnoses

There are many challenges to death registration and certification in the Philippines including a gap in training physicians to correctly certify the underlying cause of death in medical school. Three doctors in the Philippines share how their organisations are working to improve the quality of death certification through the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative.

Timelier death data in the Philippines

Edith Ramos Orcilla, Assistant National Statistician and Aurora T Reolalas, Chief Statistical Specialist at the Philippine Statistical Authority share how the has been able to drastically improve the speed of which they report their cause of death data, which is vital for health policymaking and planning.

Application of SmartVA in the Philippines

Historically, determining the underlying cause of death for people who die in community has been “pretty hard,” says Dr Clemencia Dilag Bondol, President of the Municipal Association of Municipal Health Officers. But now that municipal health officers and physicians in community settings are using SmartVA as part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative to diagnose deaths, the process has become much more simple.

SmartVA rollout in the Philippines

For the first time, SmartVA is being used by physicians, to diagnose the underlying cause of death in community settings. Verbal autopsy expert, Associate Professor Rohina Joshi from the University of Melbourne explains.

SINADEF: Video demostrativo completo

Video subido con permiso del Ministerio de Salud, Perú.

SINADEF: Video tutorial

Video subido con permiso del Ministerio de Salud, Perú.

SINADEF: Introducción

Video subido con permiso del Ministerio de Salud, Perú.

CRVS progress in the Philippines

The Philippines has shown ongoing commitment to strengthening its civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) system. It is a relatively mature and functioning system, but there are many aspects that could function better if they were strengthened. In-depth videos at:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQfUxrZQ_vdgiO2kaiSlOi2XvaoIcVe7u

The Philippines: A story of CRVS change

What was the civil registration and vital statistics system in the Philippines like before the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative started, and what impact has the initiative had? Interview with Lene Mikkelsen, Senior Technical Advisor to the Philippines from the University of Melbourne, Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative.

Summary: A new method for estimating the completeness of death registration

Explains a new method to estimate the completeness of death registration using widely available country data.

Estimating the completeness of death registration: An empirical method

Many national and subnational governments need to routinely measure the completeness of death registration for monitoring and statistical purposes. Existing methods, such as death distribution and capture-recapture methods, have a number of limitations such as inaccuracy and complexity that prevent widespread application. This paper presents a novel empirical method to estimate completeness of death registration at the national and subnational level.

Where there is no physician: Improving the notification of community deaths

This paper highlights the importance of community death notification, and provides checklists for countries seeking to audit and improve internal notification of community deaths. Results from applying these checklists as part of a broader process mapping exercise with 16 countries will also be discussed, which influenced the development of seven general guiding principles for the development of death notification forms. These resources are meant to aid countries and their CRVS partners as they move towards improving notification and registration of community deaths, particularly when considering universal digital notification-registration where there is no physician.

Improving vital statistics for informed policy: The importance of data quality

Outlines the importance of quality, and simple procedures for checking data quality from collection to analysis.

Reducing barriers to the accurate medical certification of cause of death

This document identifies barriers to accurate COD reporting by physicians and provides recommendations on how various actors can respond.

Strengthening CRVS systems through effective legislation

This paper explains how legal frameworks can contribute to the completeness of birth and death registration, and improve the accuracy of information held in national and subnational civil records. This paper also highlights some of the common issues with existing civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) laws in many countries, and the importance for governments and CRVS stakeholders to conduct a comprehensive legal review. General recommendations on the steps and strategies countries should use for conducting a legal review on existing CRVS-related laws are provided.

Strategies for improving the quality of cause of death data in hospitals

This paper outlines the importance of accurate medical certification of cause of death, and provides eight strategies that hospitals can implement to improve the accuracy and consistency of cause of death data drawn from medical records.

Understanding CRVS systems: The importance of process mapping

Explains how enterprise architecture and its process mapping methodology can be used to describe and improve CRVS systems.

Challenges associated with automated VA training and rollout

This paper is a useful resource for countries looking to implement automated VA on a digital tablet or smartphone.

Training and education on medical certification: Effective strategies and approaches

This document outlines a best-practice plan for the timing and content of education and training on medical certification for physicians at three career stages.

Integrating community-based verbal autopsy into CRVS: System-level considerations

This document provides recommendations for integrating VA processes into CRVS, which involves consideration of system-wide integration issues.

Introducing verbal autopsies into CRVS: Guiding principles

This document details the merits of automated VA methods and provides guidance for countries looking to implement VA in CRVS systems.

The 'Ten CRVS Milestones' framework for understanding CRVS systems

Describes how CRVS systems function, including key processes that must be accomplished. Provides an understanding of system strengths and weaknesses.

Guidance for assessing and interpreting the quality of mortality data using ANACONDA – Chinese version

For users of ANACONDA (statisticians and/or analysts in health and statistics departments, researchers, or other experts working with mortality data).

Guidance for assessing and interpreting the quality of mortality data using ANACONDA

For users of ANACONDA (statisticians and/or analysts in health and statistics departments, researchers, or other experts working with mortality data).

Handbook for physicians on cause of death certification

These are generic guidelines about how to certify the cause of death, written for physicians and medical students, particularly in developing countries.

Medical certification of cause of death: Quick reference guide

This guide contains basic information about how to correctly complete the International Form of medical certificate of COD, as recommended by the WHO.

SmartVA: Interviewer's manual

The information contained in this manual provides generic information to intended VA interviewers on how to conduct VA interviews systematically.

SmartVA: Technical user guide

The information contained in this manual provides generic information to technical support personnel for the implementation of automated VA methods.

ANACONDA Quick reference guide: 10 steps

Summarises the 10 main steps in ANACONDA, including key outputs and data quality checks for mortality and cause of death statistics.

Assessing the quality of death certificates: Guidance for the rapid tool

This document provides guidance on how to use the rapid assessment tool, with examples for each question.

Assessing the quality of death certificates: Rapid tool

This tool is designed to assess the quality of death certification practices by checking for common errors in death certificates.

CRVS birth and death statistics report template

This template has been designed to ensure that useful data on birth and death will become available for policy through annual reporting.

Guía para evaluar e interpretar la calidad de los datos de mortalidad utilizando: ANACONDA

El documento es para usuarios de ANACONDA, una herramienta electrónica para el control de calidad de los datos de mortalidad.

Papua New Guinea: Targeted interventions for sustainable change

Outlines the strategy for strengthening the CRVS system, which is based on three pillars: leadership, integration, and capacity-building.

Peru: An exceptional example of CRVS system advancement

This document highlights the major interventions being implemented in Peru as part of the country's CRVS systems-strengthening agenda.

Bangladesh: A successful journey towards CRVS system improvement

This CRVS country perspective highlights three successful technical interventions implemented by the Government of Bangladesh and its civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) stakeholders to strengthen the country’s CRVS system

Summary: Integrating verbal autopsies into CRVS systems

This document details how to sustainably integrate verbal autopsy into CRVS systems.

Research priorities for country CRVS strengthening

This document outlines six of focus areas for countries in need of CRVS research.

Civil registration and identification

Civil registration should be the basis of any national identification system, and must be strengthened before new systems are put in place.

Improving registration: Best practice guidelines

Examples of best practice for registration include making it a legal requirement to register, and not charging a fee for initial registration.

Summary: Improving vital statistics for informed policy

Briefly explains the importance of data quality assessments and basic data quality checks to perform

Summary: The importance of routinely measuring birth and death registration completeness

Highlights the importance of measuring registration completeness and the impact it has on fertility and mortality statistics.

Summary: CRVS systems are good for your health

This document highlights how countries that invest in CRVS strengthening will see improved population health outcomes.

Action guide on CRVS legal and regulatory reviews

This document highlights five suggested steps countries should follow for conducting a legal review on CRVS law.

Action guide on implementing automated coding (Iris)

Describes five key steps countries should follow when implementing automated mortality coding.

Action guide on process mapping for CRVS systems

Outlines the four key steps in process mapping and explains how they can be used to strengthen CRVS system design.

Action guide on reducing barriers to medical certification

Describes five actions that can be taken to reduce barriers to accurate medical certification of cause of death, from legislative review to training and support.

CRVS systems need well-functioning civil registry offices

Presentation of factors which countries should consider when establishing or improving the operation of their Office of the Civil Registrar.

Intervention: Medical certification of cause of death

Activities to improve certification include introducing the international form of medical certificate of cause of death and training courses.

Intervention: Mortality coding

Transformation of information on death certificates into alpha-numeric codes, for easier analysis of the patterns of mortality in a population.

Intervention: Automated verbal autopsy

The automated process of using handheld devices for all verbal autopsy activities.

Intervention: Enterprise architecture and process mapping

A tool that that helps describe, understand, analyse, compare and visualise the organisation, processes, workflows and functionality of a CRVS system.

Advocating for civil registration: guide to developing a business case for civil registration

Practical information on the six-step approach to preparing and using a business case in support of a civil registration system.

An economic evaluation of data collection methods for vital statistics

A systematic framework to guide investment decisions by donors and governments on methods of data collection for vital statistics.

Assessing the production, quality and use of national vital statistics: a case study of the Philippines

Findings from the review of the CRVS system in the Philippines (2009), which helped to understand how the system worked and identifying weaker areas.

Improving civil registration and vital statistics systems - Lessons learned from the application of health information tools in Asia and the Pacific

A review of the application of the comprehensive CRVS assessment tool in Asia and the Pacific.

Improving COD certification practices in the Pacific

Findings of study to determine the efficacy and accessibility of the certification module of the WHO's web-based ICD training tool.

Promoting the periodic assessment of the quality of medical records and cause-of-death data

A rare look into the validation of cause of death information from routine reporting systems.

Rapid assessment of vital statistics systems

Evaluation of the application of the WHO/Health Information Systems Knowledge Hub tool in 26 countries in the Asia–Pacific region.

Strategic planning to strengthen civil registration and vital statistics systems

Guidance for using findings from a comprehensive assessment.

Symptom recall and the diagnostic accuracy of verbal autopsies

Determines how recall of item responses varied between interviews over time and how much loss of recall affected the accuracy of CSMFs.

CRVS country overview: Bangladesh

CRVS country overview: Brazil

CRVS country overview: China (Shanghai)

CRVS country overview: Colombia

CRVS country overview: Ecuador

CRVS country overview: Ghana

CRVS country overview: Myanmar

CRVS country overview: Papua New Guinea

CRVS country overview: Philippines

CRVS country overview: Rwanda

CRVS country overview: Solomon Islands

CRVS country overview: Sri Lanka

CRVS country overview: Tanzania

Course prospectus: ANACONDA

Course prospectus: Estimating completeness of birth and death registration

Course prospectus: CRVS data analysis and use

Course prospectus: Enterprise architecture and process mapping for strengthening CRVS design

Course prospectus: ICD-10 mortality coder training

Course prospectus: Iris automated mortality coding training

Course prospectus: Capacity development and medical certification of cause of death training

Course prospectus: SmartVA

Course prospectus: Verbal autopsy costing and budgeting tool

Redefining 'garbage codes' for public health policy: Report on the expert group meeting

Describes the new classification of 'unusable codes' that cause most harm, allowing countries to design targeted interventions for improvement.

How do I setup Samsung Galaxy tablets?

This SmartVA IT action guide will show you you how to set up your Samsung Galaxy tablet for SmartVA, including installing the necessary apps for collecting verbal autopsy data.

How do I translate the SmartVA instrument?

This SmartVA IT action guide describes how to translate the SmartVA instrument (Excel questionnaire and media files) into a different language for use through the Open Data Kit (ODK) platform.

How do I download and install ODK Collect?

This SmartVA IT action guide describes how to install ODK Collect onto a tablet in two ways: directly onto a tablet via the ‘Play Store’ or Internet browser, or from a computer via the Internet and copying it across to the tablet for installation

Fellowship profile: Assessing the quality of mortality statistics in Shanghai

In 2017, Dr Tan Ziwen came to the University to learn about how to routinely assess the quality of vital statistics data using ANACONDA.

CRVS country overview: Peru

Summary: Improving the quality of mortality statistics in Sri Lanka

Describes the two innovative approaches Sri Lanka is taking to improve the quality of mortality data: introducing automated verbal autopsy, and up-skilling doctors in correct medical certification practices.

Summary: The CRVS baseline evaluation framework

Describes the four domains of the framework; an important tool that provides an actionable evaluation of a CRVS system.

Action guide on automated VA training and rollout

This action guide outlines seven key tasks and challenges countries should consider when implementing automated VA.

Action guide on training and education on medical certification of cause of death

Outlines an approach to training and education on medical certification of cause of death based on three key stages in a physician's career: during medical school, as an intern or junior physician, and as senior practicing clinicians.

Fellowship profile: Investigating garbage codes to improve mortality statistics in Brazil

Between January and February 2018, Raquel Barbosa de Lima, from the Department of Health Situation Analysis, Ministry of Health, Brazil, came to the University of Melbourne to receive support in analysing data from a pilot study that investigated key attributes of deaths with ‘garbage codes’.

Summary: SDG achievement depends on CRVS systems

Well-functioning civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems will play an important role in assisting countries and regions to measure, monitor and meet their Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets. Strengthening of CRVS systems is an SDG outcome in and of itself; therefore, to fully achieve the SDG agenda, CRVS systems must be robust with near-complete registration of births and deaths.

Summary: Monitoring CRVS data quality and progress

Summarises key points from the Lancet series paper, which discussed results from a global assessment of CRVS systems, and the development of a composite index, the Vital Statistics Performance Index (VSPI) that can monitor data quality and progress over time.

Sri Lanka: Strengthening the quality and availability of mortality statistics

This paper outlines the strategy for improving the quality and availability of mortality statistics in Sri Lanka, which is built on two main pillars: improving the quality of medical certification of cause of death for facility deaths; and implementing automated verbal autopsy to ascertain probable cause of death for community deaths.

How can we accelerate progress on civil registration and vital statistics?

The first in a series of papers published by the WHO Bulletin looking at how the health sector can contribute towards strengthening CRVS systems and increasing birth and death registration coverage.

Civil registration and vital statistics in health systems

Over the past decades, the health sector has forged a widespread network of health facilities and community health workers who carry out key public health interventions, aiming to reach the most marginalized populations with life-saving interventions. In many countries, health networks offer untapped potential to leverage health services for the notification and registration of births and deaths.

Fellowship profile: Assessing the impact of death certification interventions in Peru

Between November 2017 and January 2018, Janet Miki from the Ministry of Health in Perú, came to the University of Melbourne to receive support in conducting a study assessing the impact of two death certification interventions to improve cause of death data in Perú. This fellowship profile documents Janet’s experiences whilst at Melbourne, including what she worked on, what she learned, and what impact this might have on improving the quality of mortality data in Perú.

Colombia: A strategy to improve the registration and certification of vital events in rural and ethnic communities

This paper details Colombia’s strategy to increase the registration and certification of vital events in rural municipalities and ethnic communities. Key parts of this intervention involve developing a proactive search system to improve capture of vital events through mobile notification, and subsequently applying automated verbal autopsy to determine probable cause of community-based deaths.

Summary: Redefining 'garbage codes' for public health policy

Describes the alternative classification of garbage codes used in ANACONDA that better aligns with public health priorities.

Ghana: Developing a CRVS-VA management dashboard

This fellowship report highlights key features of the CRVS-VA management dashboard that was developed by Patrick Larbi-Debrah from the Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation department of Ghana Health Service, as part of his time at the Universities of Melbourne and Basel. The dashboard is a user-friendly tool that provides real-time monitoring of summary statistics from VA interviews.

How do I install and use SmartVA?

This SmartVA IT action guide describes how to install and use the SmartVA Analyze software ('Tariff') for automated analysis of verbal autopsy data.

Maximising synergies between Health Observatories and CRVS

This report provides practical guidance about how population and health observatories and CRVS systems can collaborate, to ultimately improve the registration and certification of births, deaths, and causes of death.

Why the Sustainable Development Goal agenda needs strong civil registration and vital statistics systems

Well-functioning CRVS systems will play an important role in assisting countries and regions to measure, monitor and meet their SDG targets. The SDG agenda presents an opportunity to advance health information systems world-wide, including through CRVS systems strengthening efforts. The Data for Health Initiative developed a number of interventions, described in this paper, aimed at improving various components of a CRVS system. Countries may wish to consider these as part of their CRVS systems strengthening efforts.

Summary: Improving the notification of community deaths

Notification of deaths, particularly deaths in the community, requires special attention and will likely need specific interventions tailored to each country. Two checklists have been developed for countries seeking to audit and improve internal notification of community deaths.

Fellowship profile: Strengthening civil registration processes and improving vital statistics in Rwanda

Between February and May 2018, Xavier Ngomituje, a statistician from the National Institute of Statistics Rwanda, came to the University of Melbourne to learn about measuring the completeness of death registration, in order to improve national mortality statistics. He then spent time at the Swiss Tropical and Health Institute, University of Basel, to analyse and strengthen the organisation, processes, work flows and functionality of the civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) system of Rwanda.

Fellowship profile: Developing a qualitative study protocol on VA interviewer experiences in Myanmar

This CRVS fellowship profile documents Zin’s experiences while at Melbourne, including how she developed the protocol, how she intends to apply it, and what impact her fellowship might have on improving mortality statistics as generated through the CRVS system in Myanmar.

Resultados preliminares del fortalecimiento del Sistema Informatico Nacional de Defunciones

El Perú tiene una baja cobertura de defunciones con causa de defunción (54 %) y una mala calidad del registro de las causas de defunción, mas de 45 % de las causas de muerte se clasifican como mal definidas o poco útiles para la formulación de políticas públicas. En respuesta a estos problemas, el Ministerio de Salud, junto a otras agencias gubernamentales, con el apoyo de la Iniciativa Bloomberg «Información para la Salud» está implementando el Sistema Informático Nacional de Defunciones (SINADEF). El objetivo de este artículo es describir el proceso de fortalecimiento del sistema de información de la mortalidad en Perú, centrado en la implementación del SINADEF.

Manuel sur la certification de la cause de décès à l’intention des médecins

Le présent manuel sert de guide aux médecins devant remplir des certificats de décès. Les formulaires de certification de la cause de décès sont un aspect important du travail de médecin étant donné que l’information que contiennent les certificats de décès aide les décideurs à déterminer les priorités en santé, de façon à prévenir les décès semblables dans l’avenir.

Fellowship report: Patterns and trends in Rwandan hospital mortality data, 2017-2018

Between May and August 2018, Patrick Nshimiyimana from the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda came to the University of Melbourne to analyse cause of death data collected over 12 months from a selected number of hospitals and health facilities. This report highlights key findings from his research, including patterns and trends in causes of death, as well as how the data compare with other sources of mortality data.

Fellowship report: An analysis of cause of death data from Papua New Guinea

Between October and December 2017, Ila Rouka and Elizabeth Mathias from the National Department of Health, Papua New Guinea (PNG), came to the University of Melbourne to analyse medical certificates of cause of death. As well as investigating the patterns and trends in mortality for the country between 2016 and 2017, the fellows were interested in assessing the quality of the certificates themselves. This CRVS fellowship report outlines key findings from their work.

CRVS birth and death statistics template

This template has been designed to ensure that useful data on birth and death will become available for policy through annual reporting.

Fellowship profile: Assessing the quality of vital statistics in the Philippines

Between July and October 2018, Majorie “Joy” Villaver, a supervising statistical specialist of the Philippine Statistics Authority, came to the University of Melbourne to assess the quality and completeness of birth and death registration, as well as the quality of cause of death data using the ANACONDA tool. This fellowship profile documents Joy’s experiences while at Melbourne, including what she worked on, what she found, and what impacts this might have on improving the civil registration and vital statistics system in the Philippines.

Fellowship profile: Estimating the completeness of birth and death registration in Ecuador

Between August and October 2018, José Andrade, from the Vital Statistics Department of the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC) in Ecuador, came to the University of Melbourne to receive support in calculating the completeness of birth and death registration in Ecuador. His fellowship involved using surveys, censuses, and population projections to do so, and these methods are described here, along with implications for the CRVS system of Ecuador.

Summary: Maximising synergies between health observatories and CRVS systems

Outlines six different areas of potential collaboration between health and demographic observatories and CRVS systems, including challenges and successes.

Summary: Developing a mobile app for doctors to improve the recording of cause of death in Sri Lanka

Describes the development, testing, and potential impact of a mobile application for doctors to improve the recording of cause of death in Sri Lanka.

Sampling strategies for national scale CRVS-VA planning: Guidance document and sample size calculator tool

The purpose of this package of a two part guidance document and its companion sample size calculator Tool is to assist countries with scale up and rollout planning for the application of verbal autopsy (VA) as a function of a national civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) system. Users of the package will include those tasked with designing and managing the CRVS-VA system. The package is intended to be used after pre-testing and pilot phases during which the processes, methods and possibly costing of the CRVS-VA system are perfected and established, and before the scale-up and rollout phase.

Growing number of guides on SmartVA and ODK

New or existing users of SmartVA and ODK can benefit from short, step-by-step guides.

New Frequently Asked Questions page

CRVS Knowledge Gateway users can find answers to their frequently asked questions more easily with a new FAQ page.

Sign up to our newsletter!

You can keep up-to-date on the Data for Health Initiative by signing up to receive our quarterly e-newsletter.

Introducing ANACONDA Plus

Recently in Bangkok, representatives from 12 ESCAP countries gathered for the first capacity-building workshop using ANACONDA and the new ANACONDA Plus program.

Brand-new country videos: Bangladesh, Ghana, Rwanda and Tanzania

Our spotlight on CRVS strengthening turns to Africa and Bangladesh with brand-new videos.

Manuel sur la certification de la cause de décès à l’intention des médecins

Le présent manuel a été conçu de façon à servir de ressource que les médecins peuvent garder à portée de main et consulter rapidement et facilement.

Meeting on strengthening the quality of information on causes of death in Brazil

The objective of the meeting was to discuss the improvement of the quality of the information on causes of death in Brazil, with the participation of the three spheres of government, civil society, universities, and international institutions. This report summarises the main outcomes of the meeting, including each of the main sessions, comments from participants, and links to additional resources.

New release: SmartVA 2.0

An improved version of SmartVA Analyze (including full source code) has been released.

How enterprise architecture has improved CRVS in Bangladesh

Recently, the birth registration rate jumped to more than 40 percent after Bangladesh re-worked their CRVS system.

Establishing mortality surveillance in Papua New Guinea

Historically in Papua New Guinea (PNG), the two major health systems for capturing deaths and causes of death have not provided complete or timely information.

The road to registering more births in Tanzania

“The implications of not having your birth registered are huge,” says statistician and BD4H Tanzania CRVS Fellow Chris Sanga, “yet as little as 1 in 4 Tanzanian children under the age of 5 have had their birth registered.”

New web resource supports country improvement of critical health data

The CRVS Knowledge Gateway developed by the University of Melbourne, provides technical tools and information that countries can use to improve birth and death data, with the ultimate goal to support their citizens to live longer, healthier lives.

New method to estimate completeness of death registration

A new empirical method to estimate the completeness of death registration, has been developed and launched by the CRVS team at the University of Melbourne.

New Sri Lankan MCCOD app wins Commonwealth award

A new interactive mobile app that was created as part of Data for Health, won an award at the Commonwealth Digital Health Conference Awards in Colombo, Sri Lanka in October 2017.

Implementing an electronic death notification system in Peru

In Peru, over one in five people who die are not being counted in either the Ministry of Health or in the National Registry of Identification and Marital Status.

Melbourne boot camp to bolster world-wide vital statistics

Country coordinators from Bangladesh, Brazil, Ecuador, Ghana, Indonesia, Malawi, Myanmar, Peru, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tanzania and Zambia attended a CRVS boot camp organised by Bloomberg Data for Health partners, the University of Melbourne and Vital Strategies.

Building skills in data quality assessments in the Philippines

Access to reliable and timely mortality and cause of death statistics is essential for monitoring trends in diseases, injuries and risk factors, and critically important to guide good public health policy and prevention. Training in ANACONDA will build this capacity in the Philippines, enabling them to identify inconsistencies and errors in their mortality datasets and subsequently improve the quality of their mortality statistics.

Fellowship profile – from Shanghai to Melbourne

In order to build capacity to strengthen CRVS systems in countries involved in the BD4H, six to eight fellows from the project's countries are trained a year on CRVS systems and work on a project with direct application to BD4H activities in their country.

Building momentum

With the increasing capabilities of technology to bring together scientists who were once separated geographically or by different disciplines, we now have the ability to track and estimate disease, injuries and risk factors down to the specifics, and with a level of accuracy that we couldn’t have imagined before.

Innovation collaboration with Swiss TPH

The Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute at the University of Basel is the University of Melbourne’s collaborator for the BD4H Initiative, developing CRVS tools and filling knowledge and methods gaps in order to provide technical assistance to countries.

What are people dying of in Greenland and why?

Greenland is considered a high-income country that has almost doubled its life expectancy since the 1950s, yet the life expectancy of the country is that of low-income countries - so what are people dying of and why?

University of Virginia Fellow Visits Data for Health

“Estimating and analysing the distribution of causes of death in rural areas of the world may not sound as sexy as ground-breaking surgery techniques, but it has the potential to save millions of lives. Our research will help inform health policy in underdeveloped regions of the world,” Riley said.

Saving lives by counting deaths

Professor Alan Lopez says the use of big data can revolutionise global health policy.

Myanmar: Strengthening Data

Bloomberg Data for Health Initiative researchers Professor Alan Lopez, Dr Tim Adair, Sonja Firth and Nicola Richards travelled to Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, in early August to assist with strengthening the local civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) system.

Strengthening CRVS design

In May, the Bloomberg Data for Health (BD4H) Initiative joined with several countries in Bangkok to develop country-specific process models for the registration of births and deaths, both inside and outside health facilities.

Building mortality coding expertise in Bangladesh and Myanmar

Both Bangladesh and Myanmar have prioritised coding in their Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) Country Work Plans. The country does not have a team of coders so the training has helped build the expertise in-country.

New: Redefining ‘garbage codes’ for public health policy

Report on the expert group meeting, 27–28 February 2017

Fourth edition of More than Numbers is out!

CRVS stories in Bangladesh, Ghana, Rwanda and Tanzania.

SDG achievement depends on CRVS systems

Well-functioning civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems will play an important role in assisting countries and regions to measure, monitor and meet their Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets.

Ghana: Developing a CRVS-VA management dashboard