Chandigarh, Oct 6 (PTI) Haryana will pilot an ICMR-funded ‘verbal autopsy’ project in Rohtak district to strengthen the availability and quality of information on causes of death.
Rohtak has been selected as the pilot district under the AIIMS-New Delhi-led initiative in collaboration with the Haryana Health Department, an official said.
It is part of the AIIMS-led ICMR initiative titled ‘Implementation and Scaling up of Model to Achieve Universal Coverage with Physician Ascertained Cause of Death at District Level in India’.
The project aims to generate more systematic cause-of-death information to support health planning and public health decision-making.
Verbal autopsy is a method used to determine the probable cause of a person’s death by interviewing their family members, caregivers, or people familiar with them using a standardised questionnaire.
Haryana’s Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Sumita Misra on Tuesday said the project will cover approximately 5,000 deaths during its implementation period.
Under the initiative, designated personnel of the health system will identify eligible deaths and conduct verbal autopsy interviews through a prescribed mobile-based application. The information collected during the interview will subsequently be reviewed by a Medical Officer, who will assign the cause of death as per the prescribed process, she said.
The initiative is intended to supplement routine death reporting by providing information on the circumstances and likely causes of deaths. More reliable cause-of-death data can help health authorities understand mortality patterns at the district level and facilitate evidence-based planning and prioritisation of public health interventions, she added.
The implementation period is scheduled for around eight months and will be undertaken through the existing health system in coordination with the Rohtak district health administration.
Community Health Officers and Medical Officers will be involved in the exercise.
A digital workflow will be followed under the project, with verbal autopsy interviews conducted through the prescribed mobile application. The personnel involved in the exercise will be provided training on the methodology and digital process, Misra said.
The initiative also seeks to strengthen the capacity of the health workforce in documenting and reporting cause-of-death information, she said.
The pilot is expected to provide experience for strengthening systems for collection and documentation of cause-of-death information at the district level, she added. PTI SUN KSI
KSI
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