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Death Registration
Papua New Guinea
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Papua New Guinea
Death Registration
Declaration and Notification
Declaration and Notification
Informants
Who is designated as the primary informant for natural deaths that occur in a health facility?
Head of health facilitiy or other health staff
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
The informant is the person who reports to the local registrar the occurrence of a vital event within the prescribed time limit. The law should establish, clearly and unequivocally, one person primarily responsible for providing the information needed for death registration to the civil registrar. The law may designate alternative informants and establish the order in which each of them must assume his or her responsibilities. For natural deaths occurring in health facilities, the head of the health facility or other health staff should be primary informant. Alternative informants, in order of priority, are: the nearest relative/next of kin or any adult with knowledge of the facts. Additionally, the legislation should explicitly state what type of facility is considered a “health facility” for purposes of being an informant.
The primary notifier (informant) of a death that takes place at a health facility is the head of that health facility. The definition of "health facilities" is very broad, covering both public and private persons and organizations providing health care and related services.
Who is designated primary informant for natural deaths occurring outside a health facility?
Health professional who supervised the deceased
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
In the case of death outside health facility but under medical supervision, the most effective approach is to designate the health professional as primary informant. Alternative informants, in order of priority, are: nearest relative, or any other adult having knowledge of the facts.
The primary notifier (informant) of a death that occurs at a place other than a health facility is the medical attendant who was present to confirm the death, or, where there was no medical attendant, the mother or father, followed by any other relative.
Who is designated as the primary informant for unnatural or suspicious deaths?
Specified officer of the medical legal system
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
To ensure that unnatural and suspicious deaths are registered, legislation should clearly specify who is responsible for reporting the death to the registrar. The primary informant for an unnatural or suspicious death should be an officer of the mediolegal system, regardless of whether the death occurred with or without medical supervision.
Such officers may include: coroners, medical examiners, police or other medicolegal officers. Responsibility should not be placed on the family, as that may result in the death not being declared to the registrar.
In any case where a dead body is found or a case of sudden death or death attended with suspicious or unusual circumstances occurs, any person who knows or becomes aware of the death or the finding of the body must immediately give notice to the nearest coroner or commissioned officer of the Police Force, who must transmit the information to the coroner. The coroner must inform the Registrar-General of the death as soon as practicable after receiving such information, whether or not an inquest is held.
What is the role of the health sector in death registration for natural deaths occurring in health facilities?
Informant, Providing Medical Certificate of Cause of Death
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
When a death occurs in a healthcare facility,designating the head of the health facility as the informant, is the most effective way of ensuring that all deaths in health facilities are registered in a timely and accurate manner. In some countries the health facility performs a notification function, collecting relevant information about the death and passing it to the civil registrar. In that situation, the informant (usually the nearest relative) still needs to declare the death to the civil registrar in order for the death to be registered. When the health facility is the notifer, the health facility will usually be required to provide the family with some form of evidence or record of the death to be used by the informant for registration. In some countries, the health sector is neither informant nor notifier, but instead simply issues a document to the family that serves as proof of the death. Finally in some countries, specified health staff may be designated as registrars or assigned some registrar functions, which helps bring registration closer to the people.
For information on the role of health facilities in determining cause of death and completing medical certificates of cause of death, see the "Cause of Death" topic.
The primary notifier (informant) of a death that takes place at a health facility is the head of that health facility.
Where the death occurred in a health facility or the remains were brought to a health facility, the head of the health facility must provide a medical certificate certifying the cause of death to the Registrar-General.
What is the role of the health sector in death registration for natural deaths occurring outside health facilities?
Informant, Providing Medical Certificate of Cause of Death
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
The health sector can play an important role in notifying vital events, such as deaths, that occur outside health facilities where health workers attend patients and their families in the community. Countries may designate medical officers or community health workers as informants for deaths that occur in the community. Or Alternatively, the health care worker may notify the civil registrar of the facts of death, but the nearest relative still needs to register declare the death to the civil registrar in for the death to be registered. Finally, in some countries health workers may only provide a document, such as a notice of death, to the nearest relative as official evidence of the death, which the informant submits when declaring the death.
The primary notifier (informant) of a death that occurs at a place other than a health facility is the medical attendant who was present to confirm the death, if any.
Where the death occurred at a place other than a health facility and the deceased was attended to by a medical attendant within three months prior to death, that medical attendant must provide a medical certificate certifying the cause of death to the Registrar-General.
What role do local leaders or local authorities have in the registration process for deaths that occur in the community?
None
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
In some countries, there may be remote locations where the health system is not readily accessible. In such instances, responsibility may be assigned to a local leader to act of informant, or to notify the registrar of the fact of death (but not cause of death). If a local leader is the informant, the family may be required to provide additional information to the registrar in order to register the death. In some instances, a local leader, such as a village chief, may act as a facilitiator, helping the family member (the informant) complete the death registration application and submitting this form to the local civil registrar.
The Civil and Identity Registration Act does not prescribe any role for local leaders or local authorities.
Under the Local Level Governments (LLGs) Administration Act 1997, local-level governments are required to keep a register known as a “Village Book” for each ward within the Local-level Government area (also sometimes referred to as “Village Record Books” or “Ward Record Books”). The Village Book contains information on the names, clans, ethnic groups and (where applicable) addresses of all persons within the ward, among other information. It is reported in secondary sources that a Village Book also contains information about vital events and is transmitted from the ward to the Local Level Governments and ultimately shared with the National Statistics Office – although it is not clear if the Village Books are being maintained in practice in all areas or utilized in any way by civil registration authorities.
Does the law require that funeral, burial, and cremation services share records with civil registrar?
Yes
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
In countries where death registration is not a precondition for issuing a permit to dispose of bodies, custodians of funeral facilities, crematoriums and burial sites may be required to maintain a record of all deaths and to report the deaths to the civil registrar, which would alert the registrar of fact of death when death has not been registered.
Section 21(1)-(2) of the Cemeteries Act requires the Provincial Administrator of the province or another authorized officer to ensure that no burial occurs without a certificate from a medical practitioner showing that death was due to natural causes or an order for burial is signed by a coroner. After the burial, the cemetery authority is required by Section 22(1)(b)(ii) of the Cemeteries Act to give notice of the burial to a civil registration officer, regardless of whether the burial took place in a cemetery or a private burial ground. The forms provided in the Cemeteries Regulations for this purpose request the name, address, age, sex and marital status of the deceased; the date, place and manner of death; the date and place of burial; and the name of the clergyman who officiated at the burial. Cemetery authorities and licensees of private burial grounds are also required by Section 27 of the Cemeteries Act to keep registers of burials that include the date of the burial; the name, sex and age of the deceased; the grave number, and the portion of the cemetery where the grave is situated. Any person can search a register of burials on payment of the prescribed fee.
In addition, Section 51 of the Civil and Identity Registration Act requires a minister of religion who conducts a funeral service, or a person responsible for the disposal of human remains where there is no funeral service, to request proof of notification of death from the deceased’s next of kin and, if there is no proof that the death has been notified, to report it to the Registrar-General within 21 days of the date of the disposal. Such persons also have a duty to report all funeral services conducted and all remains disposed of to the Registrar-General, in the form, frequency and manner prescribed by the Registrar-General.
