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Cause of Death
Uganda
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Uganda
Cause of Death
Transmission of Cause of Death Data
Transmission of Cause of Death Data
Transmission of Cause of Death Data
For a death that occurred under medical supervision (and not referred to MLDI), does the law specify how the information on cause of death is transmitted to the civil registrar and/or the statistics agency?
Yes for transmission of information to civil registrar
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
The medical certificate of cause of death should be transmitted to the civil registrar or the statistics agencies to be used for legal and statistical purposes. In some countries, the information in the medical certificate of cause of death (or information on cause of death) is submitted to the registrar directly, who in turn submits the MCCD or cause of death data to the statistics agency. Other countries use a bifurcated form, containing a section for legal information and a section for statistical (cause of death) information. With this type of form, the legal information is submitted to the registrar and the statistical (cause of death) information is submitted directly to the statistics agency. The MCCD should not be given to the family to bring to the civil registration agency, the family may fail to report to the civil registrar.
If the law obligates the certifier of cause of death to directly transmit an MCCD to the civil registrar and statistics agency, there are two policy objectives that are met.
First, the efficient transmission of information provides the necessary information, including cause of death, to the civil registrar and statistics agency without placing an additional burden on an intermediary, often a mourning family, to convey the medical certificate of cause of death to the registrar.
Second, certifiers of cause of death are less likely to modify sensitive cause of death information if fewer people have access to and knowledge of that potentially sensitive information.
There are conflicting provisions. In terms of section 46 of the Registration of Persons Act, whenever a deceased was attended during his or her last illness by a medical officer (regardless of place of death), the medical officer is required to sign a certificate stating the cause of death and to forward this certificate forthwith to the relevant registration officer for entry into the register.
According to Regulation 21(2) of the Registration of Persons (Births and Deaths) Regulations, where the death occurred in a medical facility, the administrator of the facility must forward the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death to the relevant registration officer within seven days of the death for entry into the register. According to Regulation 21(3) of these Regulations, whenever a person dies outside of a medical facility, the certificate of cause of death must be forwarded to the relevant registration officer by the person who carries out the post-mortem examination
The law is silent on the transmission of cause of death information to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics.
For a death referred to the MLDI system, does the law specify how cause of death information is transmitted to the civil registrar and/or statistics agency?
Yes for transmission of information to civil registrar
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
The law should designate who is responsible for submitting the MCCD or cause of death data to the civil registration authority and/or the national statistics agency in cases of deaths investigated by the MLDI system. Responsibility may be place on the forensic physician that certified the cause of death or an official within the MLDI system, such as the coroner, medical examiner, or police officer. In some countries, this person will submit the MCCD or cause of death information to the civil registration agency, which in turn will submit COD data to the national statistics agency. In other countries, this person will submit the MCCD or cause of death data directly to the national statistics agency. The MCCD should not be given to the family as a means of transmission.
A coroner may require any government medical officer or any other medical practitioner to conduct a post-mortem examination with a view to determining the cause of death, if the coroner considers it necessary for the purposes of investigation. In such instances, the person who carries out the post-mortem examination will complete a medical report stating the cause of death and provide this report to the coroner. If an inquest is held, it is the duty of the presiding Magistrate to forward a certified copy of the inquest finding to the registration officer for entry into the register.
In any case where a person dies outside of a medical facility, the certificate of cause of death is forwarded to the relevant registration officer by the person who carries out the postmortem examination. This rule would cover some suspicious deaths that are the subjects of inquests.
The law is silent on the transmission of cause of death information to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics.
For cause of death determined from verbal autopsy, does the law specify how and to whom is the cause of death information is transmitted?
No
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
Verbal autopsies should only be used for statistical purposes and never legal purposes. Therefore, cause of death determined by the use of a verbal autopsy should only be transmitted to the statistics agency (anonymized). Results of a verbal autopsy should not be transmitted to a civil registrar for legal use.
The Registration of Persons Act and its subsidiary enactments are silent on the use of verbal autopsy, and analysis of the legal instruments available to the reviewer did not identify any provisions relevant to this question.
