The contribution of social norms and religious practices towards low death registration in 3 HDSS sites of Uganda.

BACKGROUND: Uganda has low levels of death registration, estimated at two per cent by the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA). There are 56 tribes and over 5 religious denominations with so many social norms and religious practices that could have contributed to low death registration in Uganda. Previous studies on the factors affecting death registration have not assessed the contribution of social norms and religious practices toward low death registration in developing countries. METHODS: A qualitative study design was adopted to examine the contribution of social norms and religious practices toward low death registration in the 3 Health and Demographic Surveillance systems (HDSS) sites of Uganda. The methods of data collection included: focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and a document review of the death registration booklet. 6 FGDs, 2 from each HDSS site were conducted comprising 1 female FGD of 10 participants and 1 male FGD of 10 participants. In addition, 26 key informant interviews were conducted with the district leaders, local council leaders, health care workers, cultural leaders, elderly, HDSS scouts and religious leaders in the 3 HDSS sites. RESULTS: In the 4 sub-counties and 1 town council where the study was conducted, only 32 deaths were registered with NIRA, the Civil Registration authority in Uganda for the entire year from 1st January to 31st December 2020. The study shows that social norms and religious practices have contributed to the low death registration in the 3 HDSS sites in Uganda. Social norms and religious practices either hinder or discourage death registration initiatives by the government of Uganda. It was found out that burials that take place on the same day of death discourage death registration. Cultural taboo to announcing the death of infants, neonates, twins and suicides in the community hinder death registration. The burying of a woman at her parent's house after bride price payment default by the family of a husband discourages death registration. The religious institutions have their own set of rules, practices, and norms, which in most cases discourage death registration. For example, religious leaders refuse to lead funeral prayers for non-active members in religious activities. Results also showed that mixed religions in families bring about conflicts that undermine death registration. Lastly, results showed that traditionalists do not seek medical treatment in hospitals and this hinders death registration at the health facilities. CONCLUSION: The study shows that death registration is very low in the 3 HDSS sites in Uganda and that social norms and religious practices contribute greatly to the low death registration. To overcome the negative effects of social norms and religious practices, a social behaviour campaign is proposed. In addition, community dialogue should be conducted to identify all negative social norms and religious practices, how they are perpetuated, their effects, and how they can be renegotiated or eliminated to bring about high death registration in the 3 HDSS sites of Uganda. Lastly, there is a need for partnerships with cultural and religious leaders to sensitize community members on the effect of social norms and religious practices on low death registration in the 3 HDSS sites in Uganda.

How has COVID-19 impacted the civil registration and vital statistics system in Loreto, Perú? Evidence using process mapping and qualitative analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Accurate civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems are the primary data source to measure the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality. This study assesses how the pandemic impacted CRVS system processes in Loreto region of Peru, one of the worst affected countries globally. DESIGN: Qualitative study. SETTING: Loreto, a remote region, which had the highest reported mortality rate in Peru during the pandemic. PARTICIPANTS: Semistructured individual interviews and documentary analysis were conducted between September 2020 and May 2021 with 28 key informants from eight institutions involved in death certification. Key informants were identified using a purposive sampling strategy commencing at the Health Directorate of Loreto, and the snowball method was used where a participant suggested another organisation or person. Information from key informants was used to compare business process maps of the CRVS system before and during the pandemic. RESULTS: During early May 2020, there were seven times more registered deaths than in earlier years, but key informants believed this underestimated mortality by 20%-30%. During the pandemic, families had to interact with more institutions during the death certification process. Several issues disrupted death certification processes, including the burden of increased deaths, the Environmental Health Directorate often removing a body without the family's express agreement, the creation of COVID-19 cemeteries where no death certificate was needed for burial, greater participation of funeral homes that often used outdated paper forms, and closure of civil registry offices. There was increased use of the online National Death System (SINADEF) but many users had problems with access. CONCLUSIONS: The pandemic substantially disrupted CRVS processes in Loreto, making death certification more difficult, placing greater burden on the family and leading to more participation from unregulated organisations such as funeral homes or cemeteries. These disruptions were impacted by limitations of the CRVS system's processes before the pandemic.

Adjusting Reported COVID-19 Deaths for the Prevailing Routine Death Surveillance in India.

In India, the "low mortality" narrative based on the reported COVID-19 deaths may be causing more harm than benefit. The extent to which COVID-19 deaths get reported depends on the coverage of routine death surveillance [death registration along with medical certification of cause of death (MCCD)] and the errors in MCCD. In India, the coverage of routine death surveillance is 18.1%. This is compounded by the fact that COVID-19 death reporting is focused among reported cases and the case detection ratio is low. To adjust for the coverage of routine death surveillance and errors in MCCD, we calculated a correction (multiplication) factor at national and state level to produce an estimated number of COVID-19 deaths. As on July 31, 2020, we calculated the infection fatality ratio (IFR) for India (0.58:100-1.16:100) using these estimated COVID-19 deaths; this is comparable with the IFR range in countries with near perfect routine death surveillance. We recommend the release of excess deaths data during COVID-19 (at least in states with high death registration) and post-mortem COVID-19 testing as a surveillance activity for a better understanding of under-reporting. In its absence, we should adjust reported COVID-19 deaths for the coverage of routine death surveillance and errors in MCCD. This way we will have a clear idea of the true burden of deaths and our public health response will never be inadequate. We recommend that "reported" or "estimated" is added before the COVID-19 death data and related indicators for better clarity and interpretation.