The road to improved registration of vital statistics at community level.

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.