Table 3.

CRVS assessment themes, topics and outputs

Themes	Topics for assessment	Assessment outputs
Civil registration and data capture
CRVS administration	CRVS legal framework CRVS structure and organisation	Definitions of vital events, residents, notifiers, reporting periods Lead/support institutions for registration and vital statistics Institutional responsibilities and reporting relationships
CRVS business processes	Mechanisms for recording vital events Specific institutional/personnel roles	Rules and procedures for notification/registration Notification forms/ registers/civil status certificates Mapped sequence of registration activities and information flow
Cause of death ascertainment	Forms, questionnaires and protocols Data standards for statistics	Medical certification/verbal autopsy instruments and manuals Protocols for coronial/forensic review for unnatural deaths Coding and classification schemes for causes of death
Data compilation and use of vital statistics
Data processing and management	Mechanisms for data compilation Protocols for monitoring and quality control	Electronic databases and instructions for computerisation Facilities for data archival and transmission Guidelines for monitoring for reporting timeliness and accuracy
Quality evaluation	Evaluation of secondary data Field operations research	Data plausibility assessment Estimation of proportion of reported deaths (completeness) Cause of death validation (percentage ‘well-certified’)
Data utilisation	Analysis of outcome indicators Policy analysis	Demographic mortality indicators Epidemiological analysis of causes of death Burden of disease/cost effectiveness analysis

CRVS, civil registration and vital statistics.