ABSTRACT
In spite of the long-term establishment of the vital registration system with fairly high geographical coverage, key mortality statistics in Myanmar are still estimated from very limited data that is of uncertain quality. Thus, the ability to make public health policy decisions with such data is highly questionable. This study conducts a systematic assessment of the death registration system in Myanmar by evaluating the quality of mortality data and identifying barriers to generating accurate mortality data. It is a cross-sectional study with mixed method design, including both secondary and primary data analysis. The secondary data analysis assesses the quality of mortality data generated from the Vital Registration System, using the registered deaths in 2013 and the population data from the 2014 census. The primary data was collected using qualitative methods. The method allows an exploration of the system from administrative, technical and public perspectives to identify the weaknesses in the system. The findings from the secondary data analysis suggests that the deaths are severely under-registered and the situation is worse in rural areas, among females, in the youngest age groups and in less developed regions of the country. The completeness of death registration estimated by the Brass Growth Balance method was about 30%. The results indicate that the quality of cause-of-death was questionable with high proportion of 22% having an ill-defined causes-of-death. The findings from this study will provide invaluable information for further improvement of the death registration system and will provide useful information in estimating the reliable mortality indicators.
Keywords: mortality statistics; quality of data; vital registration; Myanmar
Moderator: Dr. Dusita Phuengsamran
August 10, 2016 Time: 12:30 – 13:30 hrs. Room Srabua (109)
