TY - JOUR
T1 - "Real-time" monitoring of under-five mortality
T2 - Lessons for strengthened vital statistics systems
AU - Bryce, Jennifer
AU - Amouzou, Agbessi
AU - Victor, Cesar G.
AU - Jones, Gareth
AU - Silva, Romesh
AU - Hill, Kenneth
AU - Blac, Robert E.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Bryce et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2016/1/25
Y1 - 2016/1/25
N2 - Calls for improved civil registration and vital statistics systems as a central part of the development agenda for low-income countries have noted the absence of evidence on the feasibility and accuracy of such systems. • We synthesize findings from a seven-year project in Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mali, and Niger that tested methods for the real-time monitoring of under-five mortality (RMM), with particular attention to their implications for strengthening vital statistics systems. • We tested three broad approaches, and found that none offers a surefire approach to obtaining accurate information on child deaths for recent periods of one year or less. • Those working to strengthen vital statistics systems should anticipate three ongoing challenges: ensuring data quality; addressing local challenges to community-based reporting; and planning for open data access. • This Collection underscores the importance of comprehensive reporting of results, including negative results. Full documentation and reporting of efforts to improve vital statistics systems are needed to inform future efforts.
AB - Calls for improved civil registration and vital statistics systems as a central part of the development agenda for low-income countries have noted the absence of evidence on the feasibility and accuracy of such systems. • We synthesize findings from a seven-year project in Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mali, and Niger that tested methods for the real-time monitoring of under-five mortality (RMM), with particular attention to their implications for strengthening vital statistics systems. • We tested three broad approaches, and found that none offers a surefire approach to obtaining accurate information on child deaths for recent periods of one year or less. • Those working to strengthen vital statistics systems should anticipate three ongoing challenges: ensuring data quality; addressing local challenges to community-based reporting; and planning for open data access. • This Collection underscores the importance of comprehensive reporting of results, including negative results. Full documentation and reporting of efforts to improve vital statistics systems are needed to inform future efforts.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001904
DO - 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001904
M3 - Article
C2 - 26808277
AN - SCOPUS:85020321595
SN - 1549-1277
VL - 13
JO - PLoS medicine
JF - PLoS medicine
IS - 1
M1 - e1001904
ER -