The CoDEdit tool is intended to help producers of cause-of-death statistics to strengthen their capacity in performing routine checks on their data in order to minimize errors. While the CoDEdit tool is applied at data compilation stage, its primary purpose is to warn and flag basic gross errors, alert about possible misuse of codes and finally provide a summary of the data set.

The value of good-quality mortality data for public health is widely acknowledged. While effective civil registration systems remains the ‘gold standard’ source for continuous mortality measurement, less than 25% of deaths are registered in most African countries. Alternative data collection systems can provide mortality data to complement those from civil registration, given an understanding of data source characteristics and data quality.

The section on the cause of death on the death certificate is identical worldwide. It has two parts - called Part I and Part II, and a section to record the time interval between the onset of each condition and the date of death. 
Part I - is used for diseases or conditions that form part of the sequence of events leading directly to death. 
Part II - is used for conditions which have no direct connection with the events leading to death but whose presence contributed to death.

This document highlights the importance of birth registration in Africa and presents the status of birth registration, what is currently being done and recommendations for improvement.

This is a draft copy of the CRVS assessment tool in Africa.