Saving lives through certifying deaths: assessing the impact of two interventions to improve cause of death data in Peru

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Mortality statistics derived from cause of death data are an important source of information for population health monitoring, priority setting and planning. In Perú, almost all death certificates are issued by doctors because it is a legal requirement. However, the quality of cause of death data is poor. In August 2016, the Ministry of Health of Perú decided to make two specific interventions to improve cause of death data: to introduce an online death certification system and to train doctors in standard death certification practices. METHODS: The study comprised a random sample of 300 pre-intervention death certificates, 900 death certificates that were part of the online inte..