Sri Lanka | Get Every One in the Picture

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Sri Lanka

The centralized civil registration system of Sri Lanka is the responsibility of the Registrar General's Department, with registrar’s divisions in the 332 Divisional Secretariats, for a total close to one thousand registration divisions. The current civil registration system is based on a 1951 law, last amended in 2008. Vital statistics are compiled at the Statistics Branch of the Registrar General’s Department from the birth and death returns provided by the Registrars of Births and Deaths. The legal time limit for birth and death registration is 3 months, and both acts are free of charge if done in time. Death registration is now mandatory to obtain a funeral permit.

A lot of the births happening in health facilities, with an estimated 97.2% of children between 0 and 5 years old registered in 2006–2007. However, since only 50% of deaths occur in such facilities, some deaths are not registered, and even more do not have a proper cause of death defined. Other challenges include the proper declaration of still-births, and the problem of child marriage.

To face these problems, Sri Lanka has widely implemented verbal autopsy methods, to have a better image of cause of deaths which occur outside of health facilities. By increasing the collaboration between different stakeholders, the country has also managed to produce its vital statistics reports in a timely manner. A population e-register, with a unique identification number, is now being piloted, to prepare for a wider implementation.

CRVS Focal Point:

Mr. Wathsala Walgama, Statistician, Department of Census and Statistics

RSG Member:

Mrs. G.W.C.K.K. Sumanasiri, Statistician, Vital Statistics Unit, Department of Register General

Sri Lanka

Goal 1. Universal civil registration of births, deaths and other vital events

Goal 1 Targets:

1.A

By 2024, at least … per cent of births in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year are registered.

1.B

By 2024, at least … per cent of children under 5 years old in the territory and jurisdiction have had their birth registered.

1.C

By 2024, at least … per cent of all individuals in the territory and jurisdiction have had their birth registered.

1.D

By 2024, at least … per cent of all deaths that take place in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year are registered.

1.E

By 2024, at least … per cent of all deaths recorded by the health sector in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year have a medically certified cause of death recorded using the international form of the death certificate.

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:

2.A

By 2024, at least … per cent of all births registered in the territory and jurisdiction are accompanied with the issuance of an official birth certificate that includes, as a minimum, the individual’s name, sex, date and place of birth, and name of parent(s) where known.

2.B

By 2024, at least … per cent of all deaths registered in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year are accompanied with the issuance of an official death certificate which includes, as a minimum, the deceased’s name, date of death, sex, and age.

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:

3.A

By … (year), annual nationally representative statistics on births – disaggregated by age of mother, sex of child, geographic area and administrative subdivision – are produced from registration records or other valid administrative data sources.

3.B

By … (year), annual nationally representative statistics on deaths – disaggregated by age, sex, cause of death defined by ICD (latest version as appropriate), geographic area and administrative subdivision – are produced from registration records or other valid administrative data sources.

3.C

By 2024, at least … per cent of deaths occurring in health facilities or with the attention of a medical practitioner have an underlying cause of death code derived from the medical certificate according to the standards defined by ICD (latest version as appropriate).

3.D

By 2024, the proportion of deaths coded to ill-defined codes will have been reduced to … per cent.

3.E

By 2024, at least … per cent of deaths taking place outside of a health facility and without the attention of a medical practitioner have their underlying cause of death code determined through verbal autopsy in line with international standards.

3.F

By … (year), key summary tabulations of vital statistics on births and deaths using registration records as the primary source, are made available in the public domain in electronic format annually, and within one calendar year.

3.G

By … (year), key summary tabulations of vital statistics on causes of death using registration records as the primary source, are made available in the public domain in electronic format annually, and within two calendar years.

3.H

By … (year), an accurate, complete and timely vital statistics report for the previous two years, using registration records as the primary source, is made available in the public domain.

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.

National Targets:

1.A

By 2024, at least … per cent of births in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year are registered.

Note: This country has not submitted estimates for the number of births for all years. The level of completeness of birth registration was therefore assessed with international estimates for every year, to allow comparison. These measurements are therefore to be interpreted with caution.

BASELINE

2014

97%

MIDTERM

2018

98%

1.B

By 2024, at least … per cent of children under 5 years old in the territory and jurisdiction have had their birth registered.

MIDTERM

2007

97.2%

1.C

By 2024, at least … per cent of all individuals in the territory and jurisdiction have had their birth registered.

1.D

By 2024, at least … per cent of all deaths that take place in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year are registered.

Note: This country has not submitted estimates for the number of deaths for all years. The level of completeness of death registration was therefore assessed with international estimates for every year, to allow comparison. These measurements are therefore to be interpreted with caution.

baseline

2014

96%

MIDTERM

2018

99%

1.E

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.

National Targets:

2.A

baseline

2013

100%

MIDTERM

2015

100%

2.B

baseline

2013

100%

MIDTERM

2014

100%

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.

National Targets:

3.A

TARGET

Target achieved

3.B

TARGET

Target achieved

3.C

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.

3.D

By 2024, the proportion of deaths coded to ill-defined codes will have been reduced to … per cent.

baseline

2013

33%

MIDTERM

2014

32.5%

3.E

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.

MIDTERM

Yes

3.F

TARGET

Target achieved

3.G

3.H

By … (year), an accurate, complete and timely vital statistics report for the previous two years, using registration records as the primary source, is made available in the public domain.

TARGET