Kasumba says while death can be notified from the community, they prefer notification from health facilities, as this usually comes with clear details on the individual’s cause of death. Currently, however, he says very few Ugandans are taking this registration seriously, with even health facilities where 34% of all deaths happen not notifying the majority of deaths.
Prof Rhoda Wanyenze, the Dean Makerere University School of Public Health speaking at the launch of the mortality surveillance study that the school conducted.
Ugandans registering deaths are highly motivated by the need to take over the property of their deceased relatives, officials at the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) have revealed.
Stephen Robert Kasumba, the Manager of Monitoring and Evaluation at NIRA, says that while the authority is creating awareness and intensifying efforts to ensure that vital events such as birth and death are officially recorded, many Ugandans aren’t bothered about death registration unless there are grievances over inheritance.
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Kasumba says while death can be notified from the community, they prefer notification from health facilities, as this usually comes with clear details on the individual’s cause of death. Currently, however, he says very few Ugandans are taking this registration seriously, with even health facilities —where 34% of all deaths happen— not declaring the majority of deaths.
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NIRA revealed this just after Makerere University School of Public Health (MAKSPH) released findings of new research conducted in the islands of Kalangala and Buvuma, where they found little knowledge on the process of death notification and registration, yet the majority of the deaths there happen in the community.
According to Stephen Kabwama, a Researcher at MAKSPH, the majority of the over 700 people who participated in their study were initially clueless about why they should notify deaths. Worse, reporting tools supposed to be availed by NIRA, such as Form 12 (where a deceased's details are filled), were also unavailable.
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He says it was only after the study that participants were trained that they started appreciating the need for death registration. However, he says for both island districts, there was less than 10% of their data in the NIRA registry.
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This study comes at a time when the Ministry of Health is also developing a strategy for mortality surveillance. When the findings were put to Carol Kyozira, the Death Surveillance Focal Person in the ministry, she said this data is going to be helpful in identifying areas that need strengthening.
Kyozira notes that the most recent Ebola outbreak in Central Uganda, in the districts of Mubende and Kassanda, highlighted why death notification is vital, beyond the deceased's property craze that many are focusing on.
“Many people died in the community under unclear circumstances," she said. "No one was raising alarm, but they were busy burying people and getting themselves infected. When a death is notified, an inquiry into their death is done."
So far, she says the Ministry has developed a roadmap to know who their stakeholders are and will soon develop standard operating procedures for properly managing a death.
However, according to Deo Muwanguzi, a VHT coordinator in Buvuma who attended the study dissemination, the government needs to do more than just put the paperwork in order. He says that, for instance, when a death happens in the community, they are required to take the notification form to the sub-county, which is a burdensome task.
He suggests that it would be easier if this notification could be done by authorities at the village level. Muwanguzi also expressed the need to introduce death permits, so that only those who have notified the death are given a green light to bury.
