NATIONAL MORTALITY REGISTER
Mortality statistics are an important source of
information that can be used to monitor the health status of a country as well
as to compare social, economic and health conditions in different population
groups.
Infant mortality has traditionally been considered a
good indicator of the overall health and development of the country.
AIMS
To collect, code and store data in a
format recognised internationally about all deaths occuring on the Islands of
Malta and Gozo.
To analyse this data and produce
information which can be used in the planning of health policies and systems as
well as evaluation of the effectiveness of health care plans.
To have complete and accurate data which
can be used in epidemiological studies.
To provide a source of information to
health care professionals, students and the general public which can be used for
studies and research purposes.
To answer queries posed by parliament as
well as the media.
To provide information for the
National Statistics Office, World Health
Organisation, EUROSTAT and EMCDDA.
BACKGROUND
Published mortality data by cause of death
are available since 1872 in Malta. These were produced in the form of a
fortnightly report published by the Chief Police Physician. Annual reports after
1896 were published by the Chief Government Medical Officer.
The
Department of Health Information and its forerunners have been responsible for
keeping mortality data since 1983.
COVERAGE
All death certificates of people who die in
the Maltese Islands are received at the department and the Malta
National Mortality Registry is responsible for coding, inputting,
verification of the information and analysing the data in order to produce
mortality statistics which are as accurate and
timely as possible.
DATA COLLECTION AND SOURCES OF INFORMATION
The main source of
information is the death certificate.
Accuracy and
detail is increased by looking through the deceased patient's file, discussion
with certifying doctor as well as collaboration with pathologists and the police
especially regarding deaths due to external causes. The National Cancer Registry
is another important source of information used.
Causes of death are
coded according to the International Classification of Diseases and
Related Health Problems (ICD). ICD Version 10 has been in use since
1995. ICD is an international standard diagnostic classification which permits
the systematic recording, analysis, interpretation and comparison of mortality
data. It is used to translate diagnoses of diseases from words into alphanumeric
code, which permits easy storage, retrieval and analysis of the data.
NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS
At a national level the Malta National
Mortality Registry is in close collaboration with The National
Statistics Office. Internationally association with the World
Health Organisation (WHO), the Statistical Office of the
European Communities (EUROSTAT) and the European Monitoring
Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) exists. These entities
receive information regarding mortality in Malta on a yearly basis.
TRAINING FOR CERTIFIERS
Although most doctors are confronted with
the task of completing death certificates, many do not receive adequate
training in this skill. Resulting inaccuracies in information undermine
the quality of the data derived from death certificates (Myers et al., 1998).
The EU has created a training package on certification of causes of
death. This package is aimed at medical teachers, physicians, including general
practitioners, hospital doctors and specialists such as pathologists and
toxicologists as well as medical students.
The intended use of this
package is to assist certifiers in providing quality information in areas where
common problems occur by giving instructions and practical examples on the
correct completion of the medical part of death certificates.
The
recommended death certificate according to WHO guidelines has 4 lines in part I
of the medical part of the death certificate. The examples presented also follow
these guidelines. The underlying cause of death, initiating the train of events
which will eventually lead to death must be written on the lowest used line of
part I of the death certificate.
The EU training package covers:
a basic EU manual on
certification
a Web-based training tool
These products were part of
an EU project lead by ISTAT (Italian National Institute of Statistics) in
collaboration with member states. Member states were then responsible for
national adaptation of this training material.
PUBLICATIONS
TRENDS IN MORTALITY BY CAUSE OF DEATH
ANNUAL REPORTS
Below are the annual reports published by the registry in the past 5 years. To download all other annual reports published from 2008 to 1998 in pdf format, go to our
Archive page
FACT SHEETS
REVISED DEATH CERTIFICATE
Revised Death Certificate (May be completed online, printed,
signed and sent in the usual manner.)
Word version of death certificate available on request
INTERNATIONAL LINKS
CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT
The National Mortality
Registry collects and processes personal information regarding deaths for
statistical and research purposes and in the interests of public health. All
data is collected and processed in accordance to the Data Protection Act (Malta,
2001). The Registry does not disclose identifiable data unless the law permits
it. All individuals are entitled to know what information the Registry holds
about themselves.