Evaluating the State of Birth and Death Registration in Africa at KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP)

Evaluating the state of birth and death registration in Africa and some associated factors in Kenya

Countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) still do not know how many children are born or how many people die each year. This lack of information creates challenges when planning health interventions because of difficulties in planning without accurate statistics or reliable denominators. Many events (birth and deaths) across Africa remain undetected, invisible to national and international health statistics offices and health system planners. Good health policy requires reliable descriptions of how many children are born and information about deaths: at what age, which gender, and the cause of death. There has been a call for countries with inadequate civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems (systems that count births and deaths in countries) to accelerate their development. 
Following a household survey conducted in three different HDSS sites in Kenya, data analysis will determine some of the factors associated with whether a birth or death is registered with the relevant government department in the area. By better understanding the challenges and opportunities in vital registration, this study will provide information that will improve our ability to count deaths and births and demonstrate how we can achieve universal CRVS coverage in Kenya, as well as the ethos of the international health goals.