Assessing knowledge, attitude and practice of vital registration system in South-West Nigeria

Vital registration system has a very poor performance in all the sub-Saharan African countries. The most accurate vital statistics are found in countries that are in an advanced stage of economic development. One of the key issues that have kept the sub-Saharan African countries in the state of underdevelopment is the unavailability of accurate statistical data for social and economic planning purposes. This study utilizes the data collected in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Southwest Nigeria to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of vital registration system. The results showed that more than 8 in 10 respondents claimed to have the knowledge about vital registration system, almost 7 in 10 respondents (69 percent) approved of vital registration system. Of all the respondents that were knowledgeable about vital registration system, 68.4 percent reported to have ever registered birth while 61.3 percent had ever registered death. More females than males reported registering births and deaths. There is likelihood that most of the respondents had regarded various places of birth like hospitals, clinics, maternity homes etc as a well established vital registration centers. The study concludes by discussing the need for a reliable and accurate vital registration system if Nigeria’s vision of becoming one of the top 20 economies in the world in 2020 would be realized

Mortality surveillance methods to identify and characterize deaths in child health and mortality prevention surveillance network sites

Despite reductions over the past 2 decades, childhood mortality remains high in low- and middle-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. In these settings, children often die at home, without contact with the health system, and are neither accounted for, nor attributed with a cause of death. In addition, when cause of death determinations occur, they often use nonspecific methods. Consequently, findings from models currently utilized to build national and global estimates of causes of death are associated with substantial uncertainty. Higher-quality data would enable stakeholders to effectively target interventions for the leading causes of childhood mortality, a critical component to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by eliminating preventable perinatal and childhood deaths. The Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) Network tracks the causes of under-5 mortality and stillbirths at sites in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia through comprehensive mortality surveillance, utilizing minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS), postmortem laboratory and pathology testing, verbal autopsy, and clinical and demographic data. CHAMPS sites have established facility- and community-based mortality notification systems, which aim to report potentially eligible deaths, defined as under-5 deaths and stillbirths within a defined catchment area, within 24–36 hours so that MITS can be conducted quickly after death. Where MITS has been conducted, a final cause of death is determined by an expert review panel. Data on cause of death will be provided to local, national, and global stakeholders to inform strategies to reduce perinatal and childhood mortality in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia