Professional Evaluation of Birth and Death Registration Systems in Imo State

Civil registration of births and deaths is the backbone of a functioning vital statistics system, and professional evaluation of its performance in Imo State identifies gaps and establishes priorities for a system that significantly underperforms its potential. This study evaluated the birth and death registration system in Imo State, South East Nigeria, covering registration completeness, timeliness, data quality, and inter-agency coordination. A mixed evaluation methodology was applied, combining documentary analysis of NPopC Imo State annual reports for 2019 to 2022, structured interviews with 14 NPopC staff, 8 LGA registration officers, and 6 health facility records managers, and a sample review of 1,200 registration certificates for data quality errors. Birth registration completeness was estimated at 58.4 percent, significantly above the national average but below the WHO 90 percent target for functional CRVS. Death registration was 29.6 percent, primarily due to inadequate community-level death notification. Certificate data quality showed errors in 22.3 percent of birth certificates and 34.1 percent of death certificates. Health facilities notified the civil registry within 30 days for only 44.7 percent of births. Cause of death information on certificates was medically specified in only 31.2 percent. Recommendations include mandatory electronic registration at health facilities, community death reporter system activation, NPopC-NHIS data linkage for death records, and a certificate quality review programme in all Imo State LGA registry offices.

Keywords: civil registration, vital statistics, Imo State, birth registration, death registration