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Successes and challenges in Rapid Mortality Surveillance during the COVID-19 Pandemic: a cross-country comparison

Farnaz Malik, Vital Strategies
Diana Kumar, Vital Strategies
Raven Meade, Vital Strategies
Carlie Congdon, Vital Strategies
Elizabeth Ortiz, Vital Strategies
Ruxana Jina, Vital Strategies
Martin Bratschi, Vital Strategies
Philip Setel, Vital Strategies

In settings with low levels of death registration, rapid mortality surveillance (RMS) can provide more timely counts of deaths than would otherwise be possible. Analysis of excess mortality is currently being used in many countries to provide important information on the true mortality impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We compare successes and challenges from three low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) in establishing and utilizing RMS during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative supported RMS in 17 LMIC. We will conduct qualitative analysis in three of these countries representing different regions to evaluate the successes and challenges in RMS implementation. We will also draw on project monitoring and experiences in implementing RMS. We expect to find an increase in the timeliness of reporting on total mortality given few data requirements for RMS recording. We anticipate that such data will be used in conjunction with other sources to guide public health and social measures. In some countries, establishing and operating RMS may be more challenging and government buy-in more hesitant than anticipated. We expect results, however, to support the hypothesis that RMS is an important component for understanding mortality shocks.

Keywords: COVID-19, Mortality, Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS), Mixed methods research

See extended abstract.

  Presented in Session 129. Direct and Indirect Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic