Journal – Heliyon
Article type – Journal research article – Clinical research
Publication date – Nov – 2021
Authors – Yuta Yokobori, Jun Matsuura, Hiromi Obara, Yasuo Sugiura, Tomomi Kitamura, Crispin Moyo, Chomba Mwango, Motoyuki Yuasa
Keywords – Africa, Birth registration, CRVS, Death registration
Open access – Yes
Speciality – Health policy
World region Southern Africa
Country: Zambia
Language – English
Submitted to the One Surgery Index on November 20, 2021 at 4:09 am
Abstract:

Background
Civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) are essential administrative tools for accurate statistical data on vital events. However, civil registration coverage is particularly poor in low- and middle-income countries. Currently, CRVS are attracting global attention, as their improvement is considered a priority. While health facility is one of the important actors involved in the management of quality CRVS, its function in CRVS remains unclear. Therefore, this work aims to investigate the CRVS performance of the health facility in Zambia, a low-income country, and identify the gaps for effective policy-making.

Methods
To assess the health facilities’ CRVS performance, a questionnaire was developed based on existing assessment tools for the whole CRVS; this comprised 21 multiple-choice questions in 10 areas with four choices awarded between 0 and 3 points according to performance. These questionnaire-based interviews were conducted by information officers in all health facilities per first, secondary, and tertiary-level in five target districts of Zambia, selected via socioeconomic and geographic features. The average points were calculated in each area by each level of healthcare system and summarized in a single chart.

Results
The results indicated low scores in the following areas: staff compliance with standard reporting procedures, infrastructure, capacity of coding based on International Classification of Diseases among health personnel, documentation of the cause of death in medical records, and absence of a system to identify the cause of death of brought-in-dead cases.

Conclusion
The tool developed in this work to evaluate the CRVS performance of health facilities was useful for identifying the gaps that need to be overcome to ensure the quality of CRVS in Zambia. However, its validity should be further investigated in other areas in Zambia as well as in other countries.

OSI Number – 21356

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