Completeness of birth registration in South Africa, 1996-2011

Nadine Nannan, Medical Research Council of South Africa
Rob Dorrington, University of Cape Town
Debbie Bradshaw, Medical Research Council of South Africa

The MDG project has highlighted the failure of the civil registration and vital statistics systems in less developed countries to record vital events and provide the data essential for monitoring key childhood indictors. The aim of this study is to assess the completeness of birth registration in South Africa and at a provincial level. This was achieved by reviewing fertility estimates against which a series of births produced from the 2011 Census could be verified. By 2010, 75% of births were registered before the first birthday, compared with 25% in 1996. Significant improvement in registration is seen over the last decade in all provinces. Provincial inequalities in the proportions of births registered have narrowed in absolute and relative terms. Routinely collected birth data were also explored to assess suitability to provide annual numbers of births occurring in public health facilities with the view to measuring births to monitor the completeness of birth registration and infant mortality provincially.