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Cause of Death
Sri Lanka
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Sri Lanka
Cause of Death
Transmission of Cause of Death Data
Transmission of Cause of Death Data
Transmission of Cause of Death Data
For a death that occurred under medical supervision (and not referred to MLDI), does the law specify how the information on cause of death is transmitted to the civil registrar and/or the statistics agency?
Yes for transmission of information to civil registrar
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
The medical certificate of cause of death should be transmitted to the civil registrar or the statistics agencies to be used for legal and statistical purposes. In some countries, the information in the medical certificate of cause of death (or information on cause of death) is submitted to the registrar directly, who in turn submits the MCCD or cause of death data to the statistics agency. Other countries use a bifurcated form, containing a section for legal information and a section for statistical (cause of death) information. With this type of form, the legal information is submitted to the registrar and the statistical (cause of death) information is submitted directly to the statistics agency. The MCCD should not be given to the family to bring to the civil registration agency, the family may fail to report to the civil registrar.
If the law obligates the certifier of cause of death to directly transmit an MCCD to the civil registrar and statistics agency, there are two policy objectives that are met.
First, the efficient transmission of information provides the necessary information, including cause of death, to the civil registrar and statistics agency without placing an additional burden on an intermediary, often a mourning family, to convey the medical certificate of cause of death to the registrar.
Second, certifiers of cause of death are less likely to modify sensitive cause of death information if fewer people have access to and knowledge of that potentially sensitive information.
Section 31 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act requires the medical practitioner who attended to the deceased, complete a certificate of cause of death and give this certificate to the person responsible for reporting the death (or informant). That person, which is a usually a family member of the deceased, is required to give the certificate to the registrar, who notes the cause of death in the death register. Under the MOH Circular, the form used for the certificate of Cause of Death is Form B33. Under Section 11 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act, each registrar of a division is required to send registration records to the Registrar General regularly. The law does not expressly require that the Registar General transmit cause of death information to the statistics agency.
For a death referred to the MLDI system, does the law specify how cause of death information is transmitted to the civil registrar and/or statistics agency?
Yes for transmission of information to civil registrar
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
The law should designate who is responsible for submitting the MCCD or cause of death data to the civil registration authority and/or the national statistics agency in cases of deaths investigated by the MLDI system. Responsibility may be place on the forensic physician that certified the cause of death or an official within the MLDI system, such as the coroner, medical examiner, or police officer. In some countries, this person will submit the MCCD or cause of death information to the civil registration agency, which in turn will submit COD data to the national statistics agency. In other countries, this person will submit the MCCD or cause of death data directly to the national statistics agency. The MCCD should not be given to the family as a means of transmission.
Under Section 39 of Births and Deaths Registration Act, the Inquirer is required to submit the Inquirer's Certificate of Death (Form B18) to the registrar of division who registers the death. The submission of this notice certificate by inquirer should be within 5 days of completion of inquiry. However, note that Form B18 is not an MCCD. If a Judicial Medical Officer completes an MCCD/B33 in an MLDI case, the cause of death information from the MCCD will be given to the Inquirer into Sudden Deaths (ISD). The ISD uses this cause of death information complete Form B18. The registrar enters cause of death information from Form B18 into the death register. Copies of the death register are submitted monthly to the Registrar General (RG). The law does not specify how Form B33 reaches the RG/Statistical agency.
For cause of death determined from verbal autopsy, does the law specify how and to whom is the cause of death information is transmitted?
No
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
Verbal autopsies should only be used for statistical purposes and never legal purposes. Therefore, cause of death determined by the use of a verbal autopsy should only be transmitted to the statistics agency (anonymized). Results of a verbal autopsy should not be transmitted to a civil registrar for legal use.
