The Ministry of Health and Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) with support from WHO and UNICEF convened a three day training at Paradise Hotel on the Nile, Jinja to adopt the tools, norms, standards and guidance for medical certification of cause of death, International Classification of Disease (ICD) coding and reporting of deaths in order to improve the quality and coverage of mortality statistics in Uganda.

Medical Certification of Cause of Death is a legal requirement under Part IX of the Registration of Persons Act 2015. However, Medical Certification of Cause of Death and ICD coding have only been implemented in few hospitals and often not to the required standard resulting in low coverage of the service and lack of quality data regarding the causes of death in Uganda.

In line with strengthening Civil Registration and Vital Statistics, the health sector developed a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCoD) Form, based on ICD-10, as part of the Health Management Information System (HMIS) tools. The cause of death information will be reported in District Health Information System (DHIS2) using a customized event-based cause of death module. This is the first step towards institutionalizing the practice of medical certification of cause of death in all public and private health facilities in Uganda.

The workshop comprised of a series of presentations and practical sessions. Presentations were made on the global and national perspectives regarding strengthening Civil Registration and Vital Statistics, Challenges and Opportunities for revitalizing administrative data collection and use and strengthening mortality statistics, the new Registration of Persons Act (2015), the current status of medical certification of cause of death and ICD coding in Hospitals and HC IVs in Uganda and the Legal and Ethical Implications of Medical Certification of Cause of Death.

The training sessions focused on the Principles of Medical Certification of Cause of Death and ICD Coding. Participants were given practical exercises comprising case scenarios for medical certification of cause of death and the answers were discussed in a plenary session. A practical demonstration of reporting cause of death in DHIS2 was conducted and useful feedback was solicited from the participants. 

A curriculum outline for pre and in-service training in Maternal and Perinatal Deaths Review MPDSR, medical certification of cause of death and ICD coding was presented and the participants provided input towards its finalization.

The participants also worked in groups to develop Action Plans on how to build capacity within their institutions and strengthen medical certification of cause of death and reporting of mortality statistics in Uganda. Each institution presented their workplan in the plenary. At the end of the training, each institution was given copies of the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (HMIS Form 100) to facilitate improved reporting of death occurring in health facilities.

The workshop was attended by representatives of Ministry of Health, UBOS, National Identification and Registration Authority, Medical Directors of Regional Referral Hospitals, Medical Superintendents of General Hospitals, in-charges of HC IVs, Biostatisticians of selected Districts, representatives of Police and Prisons Services, participants from Makerere University Department of Population Studies, representatives of Health Training Institutions, including Makerere School of Medicine and Mulago School of Nursing and Midwifery.

For more information, please contact: Mwebembezi Edmond, Public Information Officer, Tel.: +256 414 335569, Cell: +256 782 962674, Email:mwebembezie [at] who.int ( mwebembezie[at]who[dot]int)