Digitized systems and automated processes for vital statistics and civil registration was the focus of the technical meeting, organized by the State Statistics Committee of Turkmenistan and UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund.

The intersectoral meeting gathered representatives of the Department of Medical Statistics and Information of the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry, Centers of the Medical Statistics of all velayats, State Statistics Committee of Turkmenistan, Civil Registration Offices and Ministry of Justice of Turkmenistan. 

Well-functioning system of civil registration serves as the main source of official vital statistics.  Civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) provide basic data that serves as important indicators of developmental progress.  The population data includes infant mortality rate, the under-five mortality rate, the maternal mortality ratio, life expectancy at birth and the crude death rate, among many others.  Most of the decisions taken with regard to public health priorities and effective delivery of public services are based on the data of the CRVS system.  Therefore, timely, high-quality and consistent interagency work at all levels of data processing for civil registration are essential to the reliability of vital statistics.

Introducing a computerized civil registration system is a complex task and most countries take a step-by-step approach.  However, such technology driven advancement in the system of state statistics has the potential to standardize and streamline CVRS processes, integrate data from multiple systems and securely store data in a cost-effective way. 

UNFPA has recently supported a delegation from Turkmenistan on learning the experience of Russian Federation in gradual technology-driven transformation of the CVRS system.  The technical meeting reviewed the good practices in the region and proposed to establish an intersectoral Working group on computerization of CRVS in the country.