Birth Certificates and Health

Here's something we may not think much about: birth certificates. But this news bit from UNICEF brings up an important point:

National campaign accelerates birth registration in Burkina Faso

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso, 13 May 2009 – In Burkina Faso, as in many developing countries, millions of children are still making their way through life impoverished, abandoned, malnourished and uneducated. Having gone unregistered since birth, they are in danger of being forgotten and denied access to essential social services.

We take birth certification for granted in the US. But as the article points out, is a very important step that most impoverished/developing countries cannot take, largely due to the administration burden that it presents. Just consider what is required to log all births, especially in rural areas where there is very little health system access. A system needs to be put in place that captures data on all the kids being born. And who pays for this system? Would you rather the government of an impoverished country spend their funds on providing education, health care, clean water and sanitation, birth certificates?

But without birth certificates there are very real problems and challenges. For example, last year 4 hurricanes ran through Haiti. The news reported some low number about the number of people who were killed. But I saw photos of more people that were killed than the news reported. Since there are no records of how many people ought to be accounted for, there is no good way to figure out how many people really died, how many people are missing, and so forth. From a health systems standpoint, as you work with a community you realize how important it is to have good records so that you can monitor for progress in your work.

The article does a nice job of summarizing some of these issues.