Death registration compulsory – NRB
The National Registration Bureau (NRB) says registration of death is now compulsory and structures are in place to facilitate the exercise.
Speaking at the opening of a two-day training of health workers from Blantyre on death registration process at Hapuwani Lodge in Mulanje, NRB data manager Rodrick Langwe said the exercise is underway Blantyre, Lilongwe, Ntheu and Chitipa districts on pilot phase.
“Medical certification of death and cause of death will ensure the cause of each death is ascertained and mortality data is recorded. This will be done before the body is taken to the mortuary and the family will be given a receipt to use to collect their body from the mortuary,” he said.
While highlighting that 30 percent of deaths in the country occur at home, Langwe said village heads will be responsible for recording such deaths immediately they are informed.
He also revealed that District Commissioners will, as district registrars, be mandated to keep records of all deaths in their respective districts, while the director of NRB is mandated to keep a national register of all deaths occurring at the national level.
Langwe then warned that any one found forging documents for purposes of obtaining any of the NRB registration certificate will be fined of K1 million and be imprisonment for five years.
Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (Qech) senior medical officer Beatrice Chikaphonya-Phiri commended NRB for the training, adding that the registration will help Malawi have documented evidence that will feed researchers.
“In the past issues to do with death registration and certification were not clear. Working with NRB on this program will, therefore, ease access to medical certificates of death among deceased families,” she
said.
Apart from helping researchers, death registration will also help State institutions in policy development, planning and resource allocation and financing apart from providing crucial data to the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) needed to update voter rolls, among others.
