This Resource Kit is designed to support countries in planning and implementing improvements to their civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems. It has been compiled using critically assessed materials drawn from many sources, and is presented in a user-friendly way that is accessible to both experts and users with a general interest in evidence-based decision-making. The Resource Kit will enable all users to identify, locate and make use of core standards, tools, materials and country experiences.

This rapid assessment tool has been developed to accompany the comprehensive guide, and countries are advised to apply it before undertaking a full review of their systems. The rapid assessment tool is not a replacement for the detailed procedures described in the comprehensive guide; instead, it provides a quick overview of how well or how poorly a country’s overall system is functioning. The rapid assessment tool consists of 25 questions, grouped into 11 areas, about how the civil registration and vital statistics systems function.

This volume of the Tenth Revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) contains guidelines for recording and coding, together with much new material on practical aspects of the classification’s use, as well as an outline of the historical background to the classification. This manual provides a basic description of the ICD, together with practical instructions for mortality and morbidity coders, and guidelines for the presentation and interpretation of data. It is not intended to provide detailed training in the use of the ICD.

The detailed assessment tool reviews the main aspects of the civil registration and vital statistics systems. These include the legal and regulatory framework; registration, certification and coding practices; and the compilation, tabulation and use of the resulting data. The tool comprises both a roadmap, which outlines the main steps in conducting the review, starting with the formation of a review committee of key stakeholders, and an assessment framework, which serves as a template for the detailed review.

The SMoL has been designed to be in line with the ICD, and informs setting public health priorities and tracking progress towards national and international targets and goals such as the post-2015 health and development agenda. This list is designed to be a first step towards standardized reporting of causes of death. Countries lacking the capacities to code to ICD 3- or 4-digits should use the Simple Mortality List. Wherever capacity exists or completeness of reporting is sufficient, the full ICD should be used, ideally in combination with electronic coding tools.

The Asian and Pacific Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Decade 2015- 2024 was proclaimed at the Ministerial Conference on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Asia and Pacific, held in Bangkok in November 2014. This poster illustrates the three goals and 15 targets of the Regional Action Framework on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Asia and the Pacific, which was one of the key outcomes of the Conference. (Poster: © UN ESCAP 2014)

The ANACoD electronic tool provides a step-by-step approach to enable users to quickly conduct a comprehensive analysis of data on mortality levels and causes of death. The tool is an Excel-based application and offers a wider range of analyses and includes a special module for analysing external causes of injury deaths.

The objective of the Mortality Forum and the Mortality Reference Group (MRG) is to improve international comparability of mortality data by establishing standardized application of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition (ICD-10).

What if... every child was in the picture Civil registration and vital statistics The case for investment

This paper recalls the vital functions that civil registration systems perform in ensuring legal protection to the people of a country and contributing to the economic and social development of a nation through creation of a permanent demographic database. While some “interim solutions” including demographic surveys and surveillance sites have been implemented to bridge the gap regarding health related data, the paper argues that these are not a substitute for strengthening the civil registration systems.