Africa, Asia and Eastern Mediterranean 2012 and 2013

y eleven development partners 18 that form the Brisbane Accord Group (BAG) in consultation with fifteen
Pacific countries. 19 The BAG’s objectives are to coordinate, facilitate and support vital statistics (specifically
births, deaths and cause-of-death) investments in the region through collaborative activities.
The realities on the ground
18. Many countries in Asia and the Pacific cannot meet minimum international standards in vital
statistics. 20 Registration coverage is often incomplete, vital events are not recorded properly and registration
records do not reach the vital statistics system in a timely manner. Even when vital statistics are available, they
are often not adequately used to guide decision-making. As a result, many countries have resorted to using
alternative sources of data on vital events, such as population censuses, household sample surveys, and health
and demographic surveillance in sentinel sites or sample registration systems to generate vital statistics.
Although these sources do provide important information on vital events, they cannot replace civil registration
records as a source of data that is available on a continuous and universal basis and that is disaggregated to a
level that enables decision makers to identify marginalized groups and vulnerable areas. Moreover, these
sources do not bring the legal and human rights benefits of civil registration. 21
19. As of September 2012, thirty-five countries in Asia and the Pacific have conducted a rapid selfassessment
of their CRVS systems with overall scores ranging from 11 per cent to 96 per cent, revealing the
wide variation across the region. Five countries 22 in the region have completed or are close to completing a
comprehensive assessment, and an additional eleven countries 23 are at various stages of that process. The
assessments are being conducted using standards-based tools 24 developed by the University of Queensland
Health Information Systems Knowledge Hub (HISHub) 25 and WHO. Annex 2 contains an overview of the rapid
self-assessment results.
18 Australian Bureau of Statistics; Fiji National University; Pacific Health Information Network; Queensland University of
Technology; Secretariat of the Pacific Community; UN Children’s Fund; UN Population Fund; University of New South
Wales Human Resources for Health Knowledge Hub; University of Queensland; University of Queensland Health
Information Systems Knowledge Hub; and World Health Organization.
19 An outline of the Pacific Vital Statistics Action Plan is available at .
20 Mikkelsen, L., 2010, Rapid assessment of vital statistics systems: Evaluation of the application of the WHO/ HISHub tool in 26 countries in
the Asia-Pacific region, University of Queensland: Health Information Systems Knowledge Hub Working Paper Series, No. 10,
available at .
21 See footnote 4.
22 Indonesia; Maldives; Philippines; Sri Lanka; and Timor-Leste.
23 Bangladesh; Cambodia; India; Kyrgyzstan; Lao PDR; Malaysia; Mongolia; Myanmar; Nepal; Tajikistan; and Thailand.
24 WHO and HISHub, 2010, Rapid assessment methods for vital statistics systems, University of Queensland: Health Information
Systems Knowledge Hub Working Paper Series, No. 2, available at
. WHO and HISHub, 2010, Improving the quality of birth, death and
cause-of-death information: guidance for a standards-based review of country practices, University of Queensland: Health Information
Systems Knowledge Hub Working Paper Series, No. 1, available at
.
25 HISHub is one of four knowledge hubs for health funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID)
that work with development partners committed to supporting the MDGs in Asia and the Pacific. More information is
available at .
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