De-identified causes-of-death information will be exchanged between Fiji, Tonga and Tuvalu in a pilot project supported by the Pacific Community (SPC) that sees the countries sharing expertise towards better health outcomes.
Health, civil registration and statistics agencies in Fiji, Tonga and Tuvalu have begun a pilot to share expertise in understanding causes of death, a project supported by SPC that promises to improve health and development planning, programmes and statistics at both the national and regional level.
The initiative sees deaths occurring in one country being coded by another country according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). The ICD serves as a global standard for categorising and coding causes of death, providing essential data for public health analysis and policy response. Fiji will use their expert coders and automated tools to assist partners Tonga and Tuvalu.
Improving the availability, reporting and quality of data on deaths is a key priority for the Pacific Islands. This is because of the importance of accurate data for planning and statistical purposes; for tracking progress against national and regional health and development targets; and for monitoring the effectiveness of government policies and programmes.
SPC’s Statistics for Development Division serves as a Pacific centre of excellence for civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS), referring to the recording of births, adoptions, marriages, name changes, divorces and, of course, deaths .
The pilot is being led by Mr Jeff Montgomery, SPC’s Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Adviser, formerly New Zealand’s Registrar-General. The initiative has been supported by Tonga’s Ministry of Health, Tuvalu’s Ministry of Health, Social Welfare and Gender Affairs, and Fiji’s health department, as well as the Brisbane Accord Group of Development Partners.
“This pilot being underway is a big deal in the world of CRVS and also in the health sector, where cross-border collaboration has been an unfulfilled dream,” explains Mr Montgomery.
“The reliability of mortality data has been a fundamental challenge for most countries in the Pacific, despite considerable effort and investment from governments and development partners."
“For over 10 years, there has been discussion of taking a different, more sustainable approach, so I’m very happy to see that cause-of-death certification and coding is being prioritised and strengthened,” he said.
