Many deaths in Eastern Region not registered

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birth and death registration

Due to lack of personnel , office space and logistics, the Birth and Death Registry in the Eastern Region, had to rely on health personnel to register newly born babies especially in the remote areas of the Region.

birth registryMany deaths in the Region outside the urban areas are not registered as a result of ignorance and lack of staff and office space in those areas.

Mr Samuel Foster Omane the Eastern Regional Director of Birth and Death Registry disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview at Koforidua.

He said for the past 15 years, the department has no vehicle which could help the staff to embark on public education to raise awareness on the need to register their deaths and births.

Mr Omane explained that, because the department lacked offices in many districts in the region, the department had to perch with the Ministry of Health Directorate.

He warned that, unregistered deaths could cause the spreading of diseases if the disease that killed the person is infectious and steps are not taken to properly buried such persons and protect the area.

Mr Omane also complain of irregular supply of registration materials and as at the time of the interview, the department had no registration materials.

Mr. Omane said, despite all the challenges, during the first week in May this year, the department in collaboration with Ghana Health Service, organized a child health week and was able to register 5,148 children.

For the first half of this year, the department was able to register a total of 11,341 male births under one year and 10,773 female birth.

For the same period, the department registered 2,071 male deaths and 1,769 female deaths in the region.

He advised parents to register their newly born children because the birth certificate helps the children to know their date and place of birth, parents and their own names. It also help the children when they are to enrollment at school or seek employment after school.

The registration also helps the government to gather data for planning, he added.

He said registering the dead also helps the government to know the kind of diseases killing people and the type of drugs to import and also helps the family in processing for the claims of the deceased.

He appealed for the government to allow the department to retain some of the revenue they generate for the state to use to procure the needs of the department.

Mr Omane called for the provision of more computers to the department to help them in their data gathering, storage and processing.

GNA

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