The Importance of Death Registration
Death registration is equally essential as this helps to generate the numerators required in the calculation of important demographic and socio­economic indicators like mortality rates and others. Through the registration of deaths the estimation of essential indices like the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), the Age Specific Death Rate (ASDR) etc. are made possible for the population. Documenting the incidence and causes of death through registration would facilitate the initiation of intervention measures by government that will positively affect the group at risk.

Death registration guarantees social protection of the child. It facilitates access to several beneficiary claims, including social security, insurance and welfare benefits. Absurdities surrounding inheritance, child maintenance and issues of the like, are easily resolved with the existence of births and deaths registration documents. Death registration and the .documents generated
from it helps in the:

• Prioritization of health needs;
• Monitoring of interventions;
• Compilation of life tables;
• Estimation of life expectancy;
• Generation of mortality rates.

The Death Registration Procedure
(1) The informant with adequate evidence of the death (such as a Medical Certificate of ,Cause of Death or a Coroner's Certificate) must be present at the registry to give information about the death.
(2) Registration Assistant interviews Informant and completes Death Registration Report form "B".
(3) Informant appends signature to completed Form "B" certifying information recorded as correct.
(4) Registration Assistant enters information into Register of Deaths and Informant signs appropriate column of the Register of Deaths.
(5) RegistrationAssistant then issues:-
(a) A Burial Permit where burial is to take place WITHIN the district where the death occurred or
(b) A Death Certificate (for a prescribed fee) where burial is OUTSIDE the district where death occurred.

(6 Informant delivers Burial Permit to the Sexton/Manager of the Cemetery where deceased is to be buried.

(7) Informant surrenders Death Certificate to the Registry Office nearest where deceased is to be buried for Burial Permit. This is then delivered to the Sexton/Manager for burial.

(8) Burial Permits are returned to the Registry of issue by the Sexton.

At the end of the month, the Registration Assistant submits a statistical summary of all events registered together with the death report forms to the District Registration Officer who in turn collates district summaries and passes the forms on to the Regional Registration Officer. The Regional Office also compiles statistical summaries for the region and forwards the death registration forms to the Central Registry Office in Accra from where the national aggregates are collated. The death report forms are then forwarded to the Statistical Service.