Emmanuel Kafe
OVER 70 percent of deaths in the country occur in rural areas, and nearly half of them are not registered with the Civil Registry Department.
Death registration is mandatory in Zimbabwe and failure to comply with this legal requirement is affecting the accuracy of national demographic data.
Speaking during a data-to-policy meeting in Harare on Thursday, Civil Registry Department assistant Registrar-General for births and deaths Mrs Letisia Zengeya said the gap in registration impacts key areas such as population projections, disease surveillance, epidemic tracking and mortality analysis.
“In 2022, 121 070 deaths were recorded nationwide, with 70 percent (84 156) occurring in rural communities. Alarmingly, of the 84 156 deaths recorded in rural areas, 43 percent were not registered,” she said.
“Recording every death strengthens governance and public administration by providing decision-makers with the necessary information to develop and implement evidence-based policies, programmes and services.
“In Zimbabwe, the challenge of low death registration is mainly due to passive notification, which relies on families reporting deaths to initiate the civil registration process.
“Long distances, high travel costs to registration centres and inadequate awareness regarding the legal requirement and significance of death registration further exacerbate the issue.”
Meanwhile, the difference in crude death rates between rural and urban areas highlights higher mortality in rural regions, with nine deaths per 1 000 people, compared to 6,3 per 1 000 in urban areas.
