Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: Objective: To assess civil registration and vital statistics completeness for births in World Health Organization's Member States and identify data completeness gaps. Methods: For the 194 Member States, we sourced birth registration data from the United Nations Children's Fund database of national surveys, and, where available, vital registration reports. We acquired publicly available vital statistics compiled by national authorities. We determined civil registration completeness as the percentage of living children younger than five years whose births have been reported as registered. We evaluated vital statistics completeness against the United Nations World Population Prospects' live birth estimates, and grouped countries into seven categories based on their civil registration and vital statistics completeness. Findings: Globally, civil registration completeness for births was 77%, exceeding vital statistics completeness for births at 63%. Twenty countries had limited civil registration (25% to 74% completeness) and had nascent or no vital statistics data (completeness < 25%) for births. Five countries had nascent or no civil registration and vital statistics for births. Twenty countries had functional civil registration (75% to 94% completeness) but nascent or no available vital statistics. Approximately half (96) of the countries had complete civil registration and vital statistics for births, but contributed to only 22% of global births. Conclusion: The gap in completeness between civil registration data and vital statistics for births is most pronounced in countries with lower civil registration completeness. Enhancing data transfer processes for birth registration, along with targeted investments to elevate registration rates, is crucial for yielding comprehensive fertility statistics for governmental planning.
Authors: Tim Adair, Azza Badr, Lene Mikkelsen, Jessica Hooper, Alan Lopez
Institutions: The University of Melbourne, World Health Organization
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
Funder: World Health Organization
OpenAlex ID: W4389178883