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The registration of births and deaths in Myanmar started in 1907. The system was gradually improved in order to reach all the areas to register the vital events. Nowadays, four institutions are involved in the CRVS system. At the village level, data collection is the responsibility of the local workers of the General Administration Department, in collaboration with midwives. They work in close collaboration with the Department of Immigration for household listing. At the township level, medical officer, under the Ministry of Health and Sport (MOHS), issue the certificates. At the national & sub-national levels, the gathering of vital events in a database is carried by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) under the Ministry of Planning and Finance, which then proceeds to produce and publish vital statistics. Considering the complexity of such relations, coordination committees on Birth and Death Registration were formed at the national level, state/regional level, district level, township level, ward and village tract level. The national level committee is led by Deputy Minister for Immigration and Population
Any death must be registered within 3 days. Birth registration has currently been extended to all children under 10 years old without fees to speed up the process to universal registration. According to the 2010 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, the birth registration completeness was 72%. However, there is a strong inequality between urban and rural, with 93.5% and 63.5% respectively. In 2014, the government estimated that death registration was 60% complete. For cause of death coding, only hospital deaths (16% of total deaths) have medically certified cause of death by doctors, and the coding is usually of poor quality, with an estimated 45% of these deaths coded to ill-defined codes.
Reliable cause of death information for community deaths (84% of total deaths) is not available.
The challenges for Myanmar include its lack of a legislative framework for CRVS and limitation in resources and personnel. Combined with a lack of community awareness on the importance of birth and death registration, this has led to inequitable access to services within the country. Suggested solutions include the linkage between birth registration and public services such as immunization, school enrolment, and application of household registration, as an incentive for registration.
Mr. Tun Hla Aung, Director General of General Administration Department, Ministry of Home Affairs
Goal 1. Universal civil registration of births, deaths and other vital events |
Goal 1 Targets:
Goal 2. All individuals are provided with legal documentation of civil registration of births, deaths and other vital events, as necessary, to claim identity, civil status and ensuing rights |
Goal 2 Targets:
Goal 3. Accurate, complete and timely vital statistics (including on causes of death) are produced based on registration records and are disseminated |
Goal 3 Targets:
Goal 1. Universal civil registration of births, deaths and other vital events |
Goal 1 is an expression of the internationally accepted principle of the universal coverage of civil registration. The CRVS system should register all vital events occurring in the territory and jurisdiction of the country or area, including among hard-to-reach and marginalized populations.
Note: Information comes from the baseline report (E/ESCAP/72/22: www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/E72_22E.pdf) since no midterm questionnaire has been submitted yet.
National Targets:
BASELINE
201374%
TARGET
202495%
TARGET
202495%
baseline
201350%
TARGET
202475%
TARGET
202475%
Goal 2. All individuals are provided with legal documentation of civil registration of births, deaths and other vital events, as necessary, to claim identity, civil status and ensuing rights |
Goal 2 reflects that CRVS systems provide legal documentation of civil registration to individuals and families for legal and administrative purposes. Legal documentation is strongly linked with a broad range of rights and activities, in particular legal identity. This goal addresses the distinction between the civil registration of a vital event and the possession of formal proof that it took place, in the form of legal documentation.
Note: Information comes from the baseline report (E/ESCAP/72/22: www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/E72_22E.pdf) since no midterm questionnaire has been submitted yet.
National Targets:
TARGET
202495%
TARGET
202475%
Goal 3. Accurate, complete and timely vital statistics (including on causes of death) are produced based on registration records and are disseminated |
Goal 3 highlights the critical importance of civil registration being linked to the production and quality assurance of vital statistics on the occurrence and characteristics of vital events.
Note: Information comes from the baseline report (E/ESCAP/72/22: www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/E72_22E.pdf) since no midterm questionnaire has been submitted yet.
National Targets:
Note: This target was not monitored as part of the Midterm Questionnaire on the Implementation of the Regional Action Framework for CRVS in Asia and the Pacific.
Note: In light of recent countries’ experiences, Verbal autopsy is not encouraged to be applied to a large population scale, but rather on a representative sample. To reflect this, Target 3E is not anymore monitored by the coverage percentage of Verbal autopsy, but by the use or not of Verbal autopsy and its different applications.

National Coordination Mechanism
Status in Myanmar: Not started

Comprehensive Assessment
Status in Myanmar: Not started

National Targets for 2024
Status in Myanmar: Complete

Monitoring & Reporting Plan
Status in Myanmar: Not started

Inequality Assessment
Status in Myanmar: Not started

National Strategy
Status in Myanmar: Plans

National Focal Point
Status in Myanmar: Complete

Reporting to ESCAP - Baseline
Status in Myanmar: Complete

Reporting to ESCAP - Midterm
Status in Myanmar: In progress
The registration of births and deaths in Myanmar started in 1907. The system was gradually improved in order to reach all the areas to register the vital events. Nowadays, four institutions are involved in the CRVS system. At the village level, data collection is the responsibility of the local workers of the General Administration Department, in collaboration with midwives. They work in close collaboration with the Department of Immigration for household listing. At the township level, medical officer, under the Ministry of Health and Sport (MOHS), issue the certificates. At the national & sub-national levels, the gathering of vital events in a database is carried by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) under the Ministry of Planning and Finance, which then proceeds to produce and publish vital statistics. Considering the complexity of such relations, coordination committees on Birth and Death Registration were formed at the national level, state/regional level, district level, township level, ward and village tract level. The national level committee is led by Deputy Minister for Immigration and Population
Any death must be registered within 3 days. Birth registration has currently been extended to all children under 10 years old without fees to speed up the process to universal registration. According to the 2010 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, the birth registration completeness was 72%. However, there is a strong inequality between urban and rural, with 93.5% and 63.5% respectively. In 2014, the government estimated that death registration was 60% complete. For cause of death coding, only hospital deaths (16% of total deaths) have medically certified cause of death by doctors, and the coding is usually of poor quality, with an estimated 45% of these deaths coded to ill-defined codes.
Reliable cause of death information for community deaths (84% of total deaths) is not available.
The challenges for Myanmar include its lack of a legislative framework for CRVS and limitation in resources and personnel. Combined with a lack of community awareness on the importance of birth and death registration, this has led to inequitable access to services within the country. Suggested solutions include the linkage between birth registration and public services such as immunization, school enrolment, and application of household registration, as an incentive for registration.
Mr. Tun Hla Aung, Director General of General Administration Department, Ministry of Home Affairs