Governmental entities urged to designate health facilities as primary sources for the registration of births and deaths.
In a significant move aimed at ensuring every child in Bangladesh secures a legal identity, civil society organisations (CSOs) have called for the amendment of the existing laws to designate healthcare facilities as primary informants for births and deaths registration.
The call was made at a meeting organised by Nari Maitree, a women-led social justice organisation, and supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Global Health Advocacy Incubator. Representatives from the Ministry of Health's Public Health Wing, the Public Health Foundation, UNICEF, Vital Strategies, and other stakeholders attended the meeting held at the Azimur Rahman Conference Hall, The Daily Star Centre, Dhaka.
The proposed amendment, if enacted, would require all healthcare facilities, including hospitals, clinics, maternity homes, and community health centres, to directly notify births and deaths to the civil registration system. This measure is expected to significantly improve birth registration rates, which currently stand at 49% for children registered on time, despite relevant laws being in place for more than 150 years.
The current system requires registration at designated NADRA (National Database and Registration Authority) centres, and hospital-based death registration with medical death certification remains limited. Stakeholders, including CSOs, have strongly urged the government and the Ministry of Health to simplify and streamline the birth and death registration process by involving healthcare facilities directly.
The Ministry of Health and other government agencies have set ambitious targets to achieve near-complete birth registration by 2024 and 100% by 2030, showing commitment to improving registration systems. However, bureaucratic delays, lack of awareness, cultural and religious factors, and complicated registration processes are significant barriers that have so far prevented full implementation of reforms involving health facilities as primary informants.
Vital Strategies' Country Coordinator Md Moyeen Uddin suggested that a complete CRVS (civil registration and vital statistics) system could potentially eliminate the need for a national census. Dr Shah Ali Akbar Ashrafi, a Public Health Specialist, supported the idea of adopting global best practices for registration. Adopting such practices, where healthcare providers act as primary informants, would make registration faster, more accurate, and more comprehensive.
Nari Maitree Executive Director Shaheen Akhter Dolly emphasised the need for unified CSO action to reform the Birth and Death Registration Act. A policy advocacy memorandum signed by CSOs at the meeting will be submitted to the Chief Adviser, urging swift legal reform and clear operational rules.
It is important to note that the formal designation of healthcare facilities as primary informants for births and deaths registration has been proposed and recommended by advocacy groups but not yet fully enacted or operational at scale. The reception by the Ministry is cautiously supportive as they pursue digitization and capacity improvements; nonetheless, practical challenges and systemic inertia remain significant obstacles.
As of mid-2025, no new information has been provided about the current status of the Birth and Death Registration Act or the government's response to the CSO's call for amendment. Approximately 70% of births and 20% of deaths in Bangladesh occur in healthcare facilities, making their involvement in the registration process crucial for improving timeliness and completeness. The memorandum aims to ensure timely and reliable registration of births and deaths in Bangladesh, a step towards ensuring every child's right to a legal identity.
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