1. Progress of CRVSProgress of CRVS
Sri LankaSri Lanka

2. • Well functioning CRVS system in place for over a
century with good completeness and coverage
• Backed by a sound legal and regulatory framework
which has ensured universality and continuity
• Relies on simple low cost well established systems for
collection, transmission and storage of data
Successes

3. Challenges
Quality of cause of death statistics needs improvement
Over 30% of deaths are due to ill defined causes
Nearly half of all deaths occur out of hospitals and
hence are certified by lay registrars
Routine quality audits of data need to be conducted
Multi stakeholder coordination needs further strengthening
Timeliness needs to be improved
Verbal autopsies conducted for out of hospital deaths need
to be strengthened

4. Measures taken for further
improvement
Complete assessment carried out in 2009
Recommendations being implemented
Module proper COD certification for medical officers
developed and ready to be rolled out
Mortality coders trained continuously
Backlog being cleared
Stakeholder coordination improved
Analyzing causes of medically certified deaths
separately