Why Do We Need to Register Deaths?

Avoidable deaths are something that no population can afford. While death is an inevitable reality and beyond the control of doctors, scientists and politicians, the time and cause of death can (and should) be continuously analysed in order to introduce future improvements.

The level of development of a population is measured by its ability to predict and reduce avoidable deaths, but to do this, it needs suitable indicators and monitoring systems.

To track changes over time, we must be able to answer the following key questions:

How many people die?

One of the main steps towards structuring a society and favouring its development is to know how many people there are. Public institutions that lack an effective system to register births and deaths cannot properly organise and plan the services they need. According to the United Nations, only 40% of countries succeed in registering 90% of all deaths.

Who dies and when?

Vulnerable populations are those that have difficulty accessing health services or benefiting from public health policies because of geographic location, level of education, or social or economic status. The ability to identify vulnerable groups and risk factors allows priority to be given to measures aimed at protecting the members of these groups.

An estimated 800 women die every day for reasons related to pregnancy or child birth, and 99% of these deaths occur in developing countries. Prenatal visits, preventive treatment of infectious diseases such as malaria during pregnancy, and assisted births with trained professionals in a safe, clean environment are all factors that help to reduce maternal mortality.

Infant mortality is a clear example of premature death and a terrible consequence of a health system that has failed to protect the members of its population. Improving sanitation (water, air and housing), facilitating access to health care services and preventing malnutrition all have a very positive effect on infant mortality.

Why do people die?

Determining the cause of death is the most complicated task and the one that requires the most resources as clear information needs to be recorded—by trained and available professionals—in each case. Knowledge of the causes of death is also invaluable as it indicates which diseases are truly a problem.

At the moment, most countries base their vital statistics on retrospective and unreliable studies such as verbal autopsies, but there are projects underway, such as CaDMIA, to create tools that will facilitate access to more accurate information.

In conclusion, death registration systems are an essential development tool as they provide information that helps to gauge people’s attitudes towards their most basic concern: life.