The authority for civil registration in Zambia is a Registrar-General in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security who is appointed by the Minister. The Minister also appoints a Registrar of Births and Deaths for each civil registration district and Assistant Registrars of Births and Deaths for district sub-centers. The current civil registration districts are identical with the administrative districts of Zambia. All civil registration takes place according to a uniform set of procedures. Registrars at the district level register civil events and issue event certificates. They must regularly forward all notices of civil events and all medical certificates of cause of death to the Registrar-General, who maintains central registers of births, stillbirths and deaths.
Summary
Zambia
Zambia
Civil Registration System
Does the law designate a national level agency responsible for civil registration?
Does the law provide for a uniform process to complete civil registrations across the country?
At what level of civil division are primary registration offices located?
Does the law establish, or authorize the establishment of, secondary civil registration offices under the jurisdiction of the primary civil registration office?
Is the local civil registrar empowered by law to register vital events? If yes, do they have the power to issue certificates of registration?
Does the law require the local civil registration office to transmit registration records to the national civil registration authority on a regular and timely basis?
Does the law provide for a right and a process to appeal a decision of a civil registrar?
Does the law authorize the local civil registrar to use mobile registration to reach remote or rural areas?
Does the law require that the civil registration authority share data with the agency responsible for producing vital statistics, on a regular and timely basis?
Does the law block the use of technology, such as electronic collection, transmission and storage of data, within the civil registration system?
Is there a national coordinating committee to address issues on the functioning of the civil registration system and its integration with other systems, such as the health sector, vital statistics, national identity system, medicolegal death investigation, and others?
Birth Registration
Zambia’s primary legislation on civil registration is the Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1973, which was last amended in 1996. Birth registration in Zambia is universal, compulsory, and free. Zambia’s Children’s Code Act 2022 gives children a specific right to be registered after birth in accordance with the Births and Deaths Registration Act. Mothers are the primary informants, and in cases where parents are married, the father is also an informant, for births occurring inside and outside health facilities. The health sector has notification duties only if the parents fail to declare birth.
Is birth registration available and compulsory for all births occurring within the country's jurisdiction?
Does the law provide a clear definition of live birth? If yes, does the definition accord with international guidelines?
Where must births be reported?
What are the reporting periods for birth registration specified in law?
Are there any fees for on-time birth registration?
Is the original birth certificate provided free of charge?
Who is designated as the primary informant for births occurring in health facilities?
Who is designated the primary informant for births occurring outside health facilities?
Are there additional or alternative documents required for late or delayed birth registration?
Is a Unique Personal Identifier (UPI) assigned at birth registration for every child born in the country?
Death Registration
Death registration is governed by the Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1973 and is universal, free and compulsory – although a small fee is charged to obtain a death certificate. The primary informant for deaths regardless of where they occur is “every relative” present at the death or in attendance during the last illness of the deceased. The duty passes next to every relative dwelling within the district in which the death occurred, to each person present at the death, to all persons who reside in the house where the death took place (for deaths outside health facilities), and any person who has buried or caused the burial of the body.
Is death registration available and compulsory for all events occurring in the country's jurisdiction?
Where must deaths be reported?
Does the law provide a clear definition of death? If yes, does the definition accord with international guidelines?
What are the reporting time periods for death registration specified in the law?
Who is designated as the primary informant for natural deaths that occur in a health facility?
Are there any fees for on-time death registration?
Who is designated primary informant for natural deaths occurring outside a health facility?
Are there additional or alternative documents required for late or delayed death registration?
What role do local leaders or local authorities have in the registration process for deaths that occur in the community?
Does the law link retirment of a UPI and/or identity credential to death registration?
Is the original death certificate provided free of charge?
Stillbirth Reporting
The Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1973 mandates the Registrar-General to keep a separate register of stillbirths.
Does the law provide a definition of fetal death? If yes, does the definition of fetal death accord with international guidelines?
Does the law provide a definition of, or criteria for stillbirth? If yes, does the definition of or criteria for stillbirth accord with international guidelines?
What system(s) are used to report stillbirths?
Is stillbirth registration available and compulsory for all stillbirths occurring within the country's jurisdiction?
Who is the designated primary informant for declaring stillbirths to the civil registrar?
What is the role of the health sector in stillbirth registration?
Where must stillbirths be reported?
Are there any fees for stillbirth registration?
Does the civil register contain a separate register for stillbirths, distinct from birth and death registers?
Does the law mandate reporting of all stillbirths through the health sector?
Does the law require or request medical certification of cause of death for stillbirths? If yes, does the medical certificate of cause of death used, accord with the WHO MCCD form?
Cause of Death
Medical certification of causes of death is generally covered by the Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1973. A Medical Certificate of the Cause of Death (MCCD) is completed by a medical professional and provided to a person with a duty to register the death. This informant must deliver the MCCD to the relevant Registrar within 48 hours of receiving it. Where a death occurs outside a medical facility and the deceased was not attended by a medical practitioner, the cause of death can be provided in a letter from a traditional leader. Police must provide information about the cause of death where a body is discovered and brought in dead. Where an inquest is held in terms of the Inquests Act (Cap 36), the cause of death is recorded from the coroner’s report.
Does the law require a cause of death (CoD) to register a death?
Does the law clearly state who is responsible for medically certifying cause of death, for natural deaths occurring in a health facility?
Does the law designate a certifier of cause of death, for natural deaths occurring under medical supervision but outside a health facility?
Does the law provide a form to certify cause of death? If yes, does the form accord with WHO Medical Certificate of Cause of Death Form?
Does the law clearly state who is responsible for medically certifying cause of death when deaths are unnatural or suspicious, or otherwise referred to the MLDI authority?
Does the standard form death certificate include cause of death information?
Does the law allow for the use of verbal autopsy when there is no MCCD?
Medicolegal Death Investigation
Zambia has a coroner system for medicolegal death investigations. The procedures for conducting medicolegal death investigations are governed primarily by the Inquests Act (Cap 36). Cases are referred to the coroner when there is reasonable cause to suspect that a person has died a violent or an unnatural death. Any person becoming aware of such a death has a duty to immediately inform a coroner, police officer, chief, headman or district messenger. The usual duties to notify a death to the Registrar of the district where the death occurred also apply in such circumstances. Inquests must be held in every case where the deceased was a prisoner, a person in the custody of a police officer or a person detained in custody under a detention order, with the reporting duty falling on the person who had charge of the deceased.
Who is designated as the primary informant for unnatural or suspicious deaths?
What type of medicolegal death investigation (MLDI) system does the country have?
Does the law clearly state what types of cases must be referred to the MLDI authority and is this in accordance with international guidance?
Does the law mandate that law enforcement and/or heads of custodial institutions report all deaths in custody to the medicolegal death investigation authority?
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?
Vital Statistics
Zambia’s Statistics Act 2018 establishes the Zambia Statistics Agency, which is the principal data collecting and disseminating agency for national statistics on a range of topics including “Population” and “Vital events and other demographic matters”. The Statistics Act generally requires cooperation with other public agencies that collect statistical data. There is no legal requirement for sharing civil registration data with the Bureau, but national data on vital statistics is derived from the civil registration system in practice. The Statistics Act generally prohibits the publication of information about identifiable individuals without their consent.