Lawoyin T O
Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, College of Medicine, U.C.H., Ibadan.
West Afr J Med. 1994 Oct-Dec;13(4):237-41.
At the beginning of a longitudinal study to evaluate the use of Village Health Workers (VHW) to collect vital statistics at the grassroot, 100 out of a total of 342 house-hold heads were randomly selected and interviewed. Information on births, child deaths, attitude to registration, and some factors militating against successful registration of vital statistics at the grassroot were inquired into and is discussed. There were a total of 6 stillbirths and 100 deaths in children (aged 0-14 years) in the last 5 years following the training of VHW for the community. Only 4 (3.4%) of these deaths wee officially registered. The top 4 causes of death in the children were febrile convulsion, malaria fever, measles and acute respiratory tract infection (ARI). Thirty six percent of the household heads felt reporting of deaths in children was unnecessary and 63.1% of children had birth certificates. Only 14% of the respondents had marriage certificates and out of a cumulative total of 43 divorces, only 21 had divorce certificates. Ignorance, poverty, traditional beliefs, lack of motivation and reduced accessibility to registration centres are major hindrances to successful registration of vital statistics at the grassroot.
在一项评估利用乡村卫生工作者（VHW）在基层收集人口动态统计数据的纵向研究开始时，从342户家庭户主中随机抽取了100人进行访谈。调查并讨论了有关出生、儿童死亡、登记态度以及一些妨碍在基层成功登记人口动态统计数据的因素。在为社区培训乡村卫生工作者后的过去5年里，共有6例死产和100例儿童（0至14岁）死亡。这些死亡中只有4例（3.4%）进行了官方登记。儿童死亡的前四大原因是高热惊厥、疟疾发热、麻疹和急性呼吸道感染（ARI）。36%的户主认为没有必要报告儿童死亡情况，63.1%的儿童有出生证明。只有14%的受访者有结婚证，在总共43起离婚案例中，只有21例有离婚证。无知、贫困、传统观念、缺乏动力以及前往登记中心的便利性降低是在基层成功登记人口动态统计数据的主要障碍。
