Write a note on the Vital Registration in Different Countries

As the vital registration system has a multitude of uses, all countries in the world are interested in developing a reliable and an adequate system.

Normally, the responsibility for the system of registration of vital events lies with the national government, and in many countries registration of vital events has been made compulsory by law.

As is evident in Table 2.1, in 1994-95, out of 47 European countries, virtually complete and reliable data were available for 44 countries while in North America out of 30 countries, similar data were available for 23 countries.

On the other hand, less than one-third of the Asian countries and a little more than one-fifth of the African countries were known to have reliable registration data in 1994-95.

Seven out of 15 South American countries either did not have reliable registration data or did not have information either about the availability of data or the reliability of available data.

For the United States, Canada, countries in Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, information on marriages, divorces, still births and abortions is also available along with that births and deaths.

In India, the first priority is given to improvement in the coverage and quality of the data on births and deaths, while only secondary importance is accorded to the development of the system of registration of marriages, divorces abortions, and no importance at all is accorded to the registration of adoptions, marriage annulments, legal separations.