Women's deaths often go unregistered due to social barriers: Experts
Women continue to lag behind men in registering deaths due to various social barriers, whereas men's deaths in Bangladesh are often registered for inheritance and other legal purposes, with only 47% of deaths currently recorded nationwide—64% of them men and 36% women.
Experts urged the government to address these obstacles to ensure women's death registration on the closing day of a two-day workshop titled "Birth and Death Registration in Bangladesh: Progress, Challenges, and the Way Forward", today (6 November) at BMA Bhaban in Dhaka.
The event was organised by PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) with support from the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI).
During the workshop, it was revealed that the birth registration rate in Bangladesh stands at 50%, and death registration at 47%, compared with global averages of 77% and 74% respectively.
PROGGA's Programme Head Hasan Shahriar noted that the current law places the responsibility for reporting births and deaths on families while keeping the health sector's role optional, even though about 67% of children in Bangladesh are born in healthcare facilities. Several countries in the Asia-Pacific region have achieved near-universal registration by assigning this responsibility to hospitals.
Shahriar further suggested amending the Birth and Death Registration Act, 2004, to make it a legal obligation for all hospitals and healthcare institutions to register births and deaths, which would accelerate the achievement of the CRVS Decade's goal of 100% registration and SDG target 16.9.
GHAI Bangladesh Country Lead Muhammad Ruhul Quddus stated, "We are committed to ensuring 100% birth and death registration by 2030. To achieve this, the law must be reformed, and its effective implementation ensured."
Vital Strategies Country Coordinator Md Nazrul Islam added, "Public awareness about the registration process must be increased, registrars' skills enhanced, technological advancement ensured, and inter-sectoral coordination strengthened."
Experts concluded that birth and death registration are essential to securing citizens' fundamental rights, including access to education, healthcare, voting, inheritance, and social protection. Conversely, the lack of registration increases the risks of child labour, child marriage, and statelessness.