An inter-institutional team is working to generate solutions to obstacles in the registration of vital statistics, and to improve the quality of data on Paraguay birth and death registrations.
To this end, the Ministry of Health, through its General Directorate of Strategic Health Information, together with the Civil Registry, the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the Public Prosecutor’s Office and other actors, held a workshop aimed at analyzing and proposing solutions to the main challenges in the registration of vital statistics.
This effort is part of the international initiative “Data for Health,” supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Ministry of Health reported.
The Director General of Strategic Information in Health, Edgar Tullo, highlighted that one of the main objectives is to unify data on Paraguay birth and death registrations between institutions.
“Today we have two sources of information on births and deaths, and we must unify the data to improve accuracy, facilitate public policies, optimise resources, comply with international standards, improve citizen records, emergency planning and demographic planning,” said Tullo.
In this context, he argued that it is an essential issue not only to meet international goals such as the Sustainable Development Goals, but also to improve public policy planning, such as the purchase of vaccines and the distribution of essential supplies.
Among the main bottlenecks identified are:
- Deaths at home: the aim should be to create clearer and more effective procedures for issuing death certificates and how to manage these cases quickly.
- Inter-institutional coordination: data reported by the Civil Registry, the INE and the Ministry of Health must be adjusted to avoid discrepancies that affect strategic planning.
- Coverage on non-working days: the regulations requiring registration of deaths within 24 hours of the event occurring or of becoming aware of it, face limitations on weekends and holidays, so alternatives must be sought to enable compliance.
The Data for Health initiative seeks to address these issues through two main components: strengthening vital statistics records and strategic use of data for policy formulation.
Paraguay joins this global network of more than 25 countries and 70 cities, committed to ensuring that “no one is left behind.” This work will allow not only the unification of data, but also the creation of innovative strategies in surveys on non-communicable diseases and the strengthening of cancer registries.
The results of this effort will have a direct impact on citizens, by reducing waiting times for critical procedures, ensuring accurate data for planning, and improving trust in the health system. “This is an essential step to ensure that public health decisions are based on solid information and that citizens receive fast and effective responses at crucial moments,” concluded Tullo.
About “Data for Health”
Until March 2027, Paraguay will have technical and financial support (around USD 100,000) through this initiative, with the aim of strengthening civil registration and vital statistics systems.
For its part, the Government of Paraguay is committed to maintaining the improvements made once the financing period has ended, and to this end, the necessary resources will be allocated to ensure the sustainability of the programs and the continuity of the collection, analysis and use of data for decision-making in public health matters.
