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. 2010 Nov 1;39(6):1584–1596. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyq188

Table 2.

Informants and sources used for implementation of the informant method and to generate additional lists for capture–recapture analysis, by site

List District 1, Kabul Mae La camp Chiradzulu District Tanzania camps
1 (Primary and secondary key informants used for the informant method)
  • Primary: wakil-e-guzars. Officially responsible for sector, are supposed to be informed about deaths and attend funerals. All male.

  • Secondary: mullahs.

  •  Theoretically responsible for funeral prayers after any death. Announce deaths and funerals during mosque prayers. Each guzar contains at least one and typically up to five mosques, both Shi’a and Sunni. All mosques were visited.

  • Primary: section leaders:

  •  Responsible for official reporting of vital statistics.

  •  Have a comprehensive coverage of the entire camp.

  • Secondary: Karen Women's

  •  Organization members (one representative per section).

  •  Should have a strong knowledge of deaths of women and children. All female.

  • Primary: village headmen.

  •  Responsible for allocating land in graveyards for burial. Expected to be present at all village funerals. Informed of key events in village. Role of sharing information on key events. May be male or female.

  • Secondary: Fumukazi

  •  Village elder women with responsibilities for pregnancies, births, and deaths of infants and children.

  •  Work closely with village headmen. Expected to be present at all village funerals.

  • Primary: zone leaders. Camp residents selected by other residents. Comprehensively cover the camps through reporting system of block leaders, village leaders, and zone leaders.

  • Secondary: secondary informants were not identified as the options were either not feasible (e.g. religious leaders were too many to consult) or needed as sources for the two additional lists.

2 Attendants at all convenience stores (small one room shops selling food, drinks and basic household items) and bakeries (community ovens where households bring their flour to be baked; separate female and male bakeries exist) in each guzar. All Buddhist, Christian and Muslim religious leaders operating in the section. In charge of funeral rites. Chairmen of village graveyard committees (azukuru), in charge of organizing burials. In Chiradzulu, nearly all people are said to be buried in graveyards (one or two per village). Register of deaths maintained by the camp management agency (World Vision in Lugufu camp, International Rescue Committee in Mtabila camp).
3 Registers of the inpatient departments of all hospitals within the catchment area of District 1, including Maiwand Hospital, Ibna Sina Hospital, Indira Gandhi Hospital, Rab-e-Balkhi Maternity Hospital, the French Hospital and the Tuberculosis Hospital. Registers maintained by the community mortality surveillance system implemented by Aide Médicale Internationale, which also captures data from the Mae La hospital inpatient department and the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit maternal health clinic. Stabilization and maternity wards of all public health centres in Chiradzulu District (n = 10); registers of all inpatient departments in Chiradzulu District Hospital (including morgue) and St. Joseph's Nguludi Hospital; Ad hoc data collection by Health Surveillance Assistants deputized to each of the 96 villages. Registers maintained by the community mortality surveillance system implemented by the Tanzanian Red Cross Society in Lugufu and Mtabila camps.