Published: 12:19 AM, 09 July 2026
Amend law to make hospitals responsible for birth, death registration: Speakers
Speakers on Wednesday urged the authorities to assign birth and death registration tasks to healthcare facilities as the government is committed to scaling up this rate to 100% by 2030. They came up with the call at a journalists' workshop titled "Birth and Death Registration in Bangladesh: Progress, Challenges, and Way Forward," held at the BMA Bhaban in the capital.
The workshop was organised by PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) with support from the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI). A total of 30 journalists representing print, television, and online media participated in the event.
They said amending the 'Birth and Death Registration Act, 2004' to legally mandate hospital authorities with registration responsibilities would fast-track the achievement of this target.
Concurrently, it will accelerate Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 16.9, which aims to ensure legal identity for all.
They also said that under the existing law, the primary responsibility of reporting births and deaths rests solely on the family, rather than the health department.
However, if healthcare facilities are tasked with registration responsibilities, approximately 67 percent of the country's children born under their care can easily be brought under registration, they said.
Many countries in the Asia-Pacific region have successfully achieved universal registration by adopting this approach.
Muhammad Ruhul Quddus, Bangladesh Country Lead of GHAI, said, "To achieve universal registration, there is no alternative to legally empowering hospitals and healthcare centers with registration responsibilities."
Nazrul Islam, Country Coordinator of Vital Strategies, said, "Alongside strengthening the law, its proper implementation must be ensured. In this regard, addressing manpower shortages, technological limitations, and lack of inter-sectoral coordination is critically urgent." Among others present as discussants at the workshop was ABM Zubair, Executive Director of PROGGA, while Mashiat Abedin, Coordinator, delivered the thematic presentation before the media
professionals.
