Medical practitioners across the North Pacific gathered in Guam last week for a hands-on training aimed at one of civil registration’s critical challenges: accurately recording causes of death.
While vital to national planning and pandemic response, cause-of-death reporting remains inadequate in many Pacific Island countries. Inaccurate or incomplete records hinder governments’ ability to track disease trends, allocate resources and support long-term health planning.
Hosted by Guam’s Department of Public Health and Social Services, the training focused on improving how doctors complete medical certificates with the cause of death—part of a Pacific programme to strengthen civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems.
Ms Catherine P. Angcao, Guam’s Chief Public Health Officer, explains here how information collected at the end of life helps serve and strengthen communities. Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Data for Health Initiative, SPC’s CRVS programme aims to boost regional coordination like this and support global efforts to ‘get every one in the picture’.
Read more on the SPC–Bloomberg Philanthropies partnership
For more information on this story, contact Mr Ben Campion, Communications Adviser, Statistics for Development Division, Pacific Community (SPC).
