The power of death statistics to improve lives

Routine death statistics offer important data to identify new conditions and track success in reducing disease. Learn more from Prabhat Jha of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto in this interview.

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Video transcript
The power of death statistics to improve lives: Prabhat Jha

(Screen displays text: “Centre of Excellence for CRVS Systems/Le Centre d’excellence sur les systèmes ESEC – Expert Talks: Understanding civil registration and vital statistics systems.” Slide transitions to new screen with the title: “The power of death statistics to improve lives: Prabhat Jha.” Mr Jha appears on screen with the title: “Prabhat Jha, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto.”)

Historically, routine information on causes of death has been absolutely transformative for health in high-income countries. I’ll just give you three examples. In 1930s there was a colossal increase in lung cancer death rates among men that was recorded from the routine statistics in the United Kingdom and in Canada, and as well as in the U.S. That led to an investigation as to why there was this colossal increase in routinely registered lung cancer deaths. That led to the identification of smoking as one of the major hazards, and eventually led to a concerted effort to reduce smoking. By some measures, that saved something like nine million lives in the U.S. alone.

The second example is a more immediate one. In 1980s, there was an outbreak of strange deaths among young men in San Francisco. This was picked up through the routine death registration system that had information on causes of death. That led to the identification of HIV/AIDS, first in African, or first in American men, but then also in Africa, and heralded the onset of the global epidemic. It identified an infectious cause by studying routine deaths that, again, were registered.

The third example is a negative one, but worth bearing in mind. In the swine flu scare that occurred just a few years ago, Mexico did not have appropriate routine statistics to be able to judge that deaths that were occurring were – in fact, in people infected – not because of that infection. This led to a worldwide panic, basically, about a big pandemic. Had the data been of better quality, the world would have actually avoided a lot of these concerns.

So, absolutely, routine death statistics have identified the important conditions. They’ve identified new conditions like AIDS, or in other cases, they have been useful in tracking successes like we’ve had for tuberculosis control or for reductions in childhood mortality. Counting the dead and describing causes is absolutely a crucial function.

(Image is replaced with the following text: “This interview was recorded in Ottawa, Canada in July 2016. Funded by Global Affairs Canada and the International Development Research Centre, the Centre of Excellence for Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems contributes directly to the work of the Global Financing Facility.” Logos for the following organizations appear at the bottom of the screen: Global Affairs Canada/Affaires mondiales Canada, IDRC/CRDI, Government of Canada, along with We support Global Financing Facility.)