The workshop aimed to guide countries in developing a sustainable nation-wide strategy to implement ICD for causes of death. By the end of the workshop each country should have a sound strategy with set goals and timelines given their resources. Their strategy may also include using verbal autopsy as an approach to obtain causes of death in deaths occurring outside of health-facilities. This will include:
- Conducting an assessment of the current practices related to cause of death in each country, including use of the international form, standard of medical certification of the cause of death, use of the ICD in coding causes of death, and compilation and analysis of statistics.
- Exploring with countries the various tools, innovations and technologies available for ICD implementation and improvement, including strategies for training, implementation of automated coding, and compilation and analyses of cause-of-death information.
The workshop was attended by delegations from eight countries, i.e., Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi. Each country delegation consisted of a mix of people from ministries of health, statistical offices, civil registries and ministries of justice and WHO country offices. In addition, there were also participants from international and local experts, facilitators, representatives from international organizations and research institutions including UNECA, African Development Bank, the Global Fund and CDC.