PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) organized the workshop in collaboration with the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI). Photo : BSS

DHAKA, Sept 08, 2025 (BSS) - Experts have suggested amending the 'Birth and Death Registration Act-2024' and legally assigning the responsibility of registration to hospital authorities to ensure cent percent birth and death registration.

They said that although Bangladesh has recently achieved some success in birth and death registration, it still lags far behind global and regional progress. Currently, the birth and death registration rates in Bangladesh are 50 and 47 percent respectively whereas the global average birth and death registration rates are 77 and 74 percent respectively, they added. 

They said it will be easier to achieve 100 percent goal if hospital authorities are legally given the responsibility to ensure registration.

Experts made the remarks at a workshop titled ‘Birth and Death Registration in Bangladesh: Progress, Obstacles and Doings’ held at a hotel in the capital today. 

PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) organized the workshop in collaboration with the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI).

Experts said that the Bangladesh government is committed to ensuring 100 percent birth and death registration by 2030. 

The workshop was informed that according to the existing laws, the responsibility of providing birth and death information has been given to the families and the role of the health department has been kept optional. If the hospital authorities are given the responsibility of birth registration, about 67 percent of the children born under the health service will definitely come under the registration.

Stressing the importance of strengthening the law and effective implementation of existing laws, speakers said that lack of awareness among the general public about registration, manpower shortage, technical limitations, complexity of the registration process, and weak coordination with the health sector are acting as major obstacles in the way of implementing the laws.

GHAI Bangladesh Country Lead Muhammad Ruhul Quddus said that in order to achieve the target of 100 percent birth and death registration by 2030, the law must be amended quickly and the responsibility of birth and death registration must be legally assigned to healthcare centres. 

Vital Strategies Country Coordinator Md. Nazrul Islam, Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance Convener Liton Haider, Co-Convener Nadira Kiran and PROGGA Executive Director ABM Zubair spoke at the workshop. 

Hasan Shahriar, Program Head of PROGGA, gave a thematic presentation in the workshop.