Good public health data needed

By ERIC PIET
PAPUA New Guinea Civil and Identity Registry (PNGCIR) says it recognises the need for good public health data to protect lives of vulnerable people and improve health outcomes to achieve the country’s development goals.
Acting Registrar-General Noel Mobiha said this at the opening of a two-day workshop yesterday in Port Moresby.
It is held by the PNGCIR in partnership with the Constitutional Law Reform Commission and Bloomberg Data for Health initiative to explore ways to strengthen PNG’s civil registration and vital statistics system (CRVS).
The workshop will see a review of the legal and regulatory framework of the country’s CVRS.
That will then pave way for development of the civil and identity registration law.
“The law that would be developed out of this would be a best one that would be responsive to the country’s need, and one that would embrace the world’s best practice,” Mobiha said.
According to the 2011 National Health Demographic Survey on birth and death registration, low registration had been noted, with births standing at 15 per cent and 10 per cent for deaths.
The workshop was told that the low registration numbers meant that many Papua New Guineans were born and would likely die invisible to the Government.
“Without a legal entity, these people would become vulnerable to discrimination and denial of basic rights and social services,” Mobiha said.
“These numbers also mean that PNG does not have accurate data on the extent of public health problems in order to make public health policy decisions, prioritise health investments, deploy resources and measure an intervention report.”
Executive director of Imagine Law Sophia Luis, from the Philippines, who was tasked to do a review on the CRVS, said it was important to have a good CRVS so that effective policies of the country were generated by Government.
“It means if the people are expected to contribute to the development of the country or have relevance to the Government, the Government must first know its people through data from birth and death records, and who does what or can do what,” she said.