Accelerating CRVS progress in the Western Pacific

Civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems provide the foundation for recording births, deaths and causes of death, enabling responsive governance, protection of individual rights, public health planning, monitoring of universal health coverage (UHC), and tracking progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Despite progress under the Asia-Pacific CRVS Decade, major gaps remain in birth and death registration, medical certification of cause of death, and production of mortality statistics, with just 1 out of 3 countries being able to produce usable mortality statistics. The current moment provides an opportunity for the Region to translate awareness into practical country action, especially in countries lagging behind. 

This virtual side event at the seventy-seventh session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific (RCM77) combines regional status-setting, concrete country examples and a facilitated discussion on how Member States and partners can accelerate focused CRVS improvements through the health sector.  

Objectives

• Raise high-level and technical awareness of CRVS as a foundation for rights, health system performance, mortality statistics, UHC monitoring and SDG accountability.
• Present the current status of CRVS in the Western Pacific Region.
• Highlight practical health-sector entry points that can rapidly improve CRVS performance.
• Showcase country-led innovations and operational examples from Member States that are already advancing CRVS work.
• Seek Member State engagement and commitment to accelerate progress, including nomination or confirmation of technical focal points and follow-up work on country-specific recommendations.

This event will be livestreamed on X, Facebook, YouTube and the RCM77 web page.