KEEPING RECORDS OF BIRTH AND DEATH

Birth and death certificates are critical to planning

The 2024 World Statistics Day was commemorated yesterday with the theme, ‘Connecting the world with data we can trust’. Although there was not much awareness about it in Nigeria, we must recommit to the idea of an effective birth registration system that is compulsory, universal, permanent and continuous and one that also guarantees the confidentiality of personal data. This is important considering disclosure by the National Population Commission (NPC) that many Nigerians are yet to be registered under the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) database.The CRVS, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) is a system that registers all births and deaths, and compiles and disseminates vital statistics, including cause of death information. It also records marriages and divorces. 

Ahead of the 2024 World Statistics Day, the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres enjoined stakeholders in all countries to “spotlight the role of statistics in advancing sustainable development for all.” That is difficult in an environment like ours where many people die without leaving a trace in any legal record or official statistics, such as births, deaths and other vital events. This lack of records renders many Nigerians invisible and marginalised, exposing them to exploitations and human rights violations which in turn limits their access to socio-economic benefits. And to the extent that such registration is good both for the identity of every citizen and national planning, this is a call to action as we urge the relevant authorities to intensify efforts on the birth registration of children in the country without which there can be no real plan for their healthcare and education. 

All over the world, birth and death certificates are critical to planning and development of data integral to the formulation of programmes relating to maternal and child health in any country. But what we have at our hands in Nigeria is an entrenched culture where births and deaths are under reported or unregistered. It is estimated that no fewer than 29 million children under the age of five in the country lack birth records. In a similar vein, that deaths are hardly recorded has led to a situation in which many financial crimes have been committed in the country in the names of deceased persons.  

In most developing countries, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), “the onus is entirely on the family to register a birth or death. Even assuming they are aware of this obligation, it often requires substantial effort and expense and can take several weeks. This in part explains why so many births and deaths go unrecorded.” The situation is worse in Nigeria, yet the UNDP argues that “a birth certificate is a basic legal document that gives identity to a child, and automatically bestows a number of rights such as the right to health care, nationality, schooling, passport, property ownership, voting, formal employment, or access to banking services.” 

Meanwhile, the accuracy of birth records in our country is also a problem, especially in the public service. This arises basically because many children are born at home while the hospitals that are supposed to be registering new births are not living up to their responsibility. Government can resolve this anomaly by designating local government officials to monitor and register births and deaths, especially in the rural area. Beyond this, there should be a campaign to shore up support for birth registration and dissuade people from giving birth at home and for refusing to report new births.  A reliable data generated on births provides the key indicators that will guide any country to provide robust health care service, allocate resources and universal education for its population.