Civil registration and vital statistics systems are about people, not numbers

Population health scientists are long-standing advocates of strengthening\ua0civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems. They emphasize that reliable statistics on birth and cause of death, generated by robust CRVS systems, are crucial for ministries of health to ensure evidence-based, cost-effective health policy and planning. Surely, who is born and who dies within a country's borders is critical information for governments and their partners.But this information is more than numbers: countries must do more than simply identify how many people are dying. Nations should understand\ua0who\ua0is dying,\ua0when\ua0their people are dying,\ua0where\ua0they're dying, and from\ua0what\ua0disease, injury or condition