Open AccessMedical certification of cause of death during COVID-19 pandemic – a challenging scenario
Author(s) -
Deepak Juyal,
Adarsh Kumar,
Sarika Pal,
Shweta Thaledi,
Shalabh Jauhari,
Vijay Thawani
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of family medicine and primary care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2278-7135
pISSN - 2249-4863
DOI - 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1435_20
Subject(s) - medicine , pandemic , death certificate , certification , public health , covid-19 , cause of death , disease , population , transmission (telecommunications) , certificate , environmental health , medical emergency , infectious disease (medical specialty) , nursing , pathology , electrical engineering , algorithm , political science , computer science , law , engineering
Death certificate data is used to monitor local, regional and national mortality trend and is helpful in improving public health as well as public safety. Accurate and reliable information about the cause of death in a population is useful for understanding disease burden estimation and trends in the health of populations; moreover, the information provided by such data is vital in terms of public health planning as well. With the continuous upsurge in mortality due to coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), mortality analysis could be valuable in addressing the current pandemic and implementing the epidemic control strategies effectively and efficiently. Given that COVID-19 death certification substantially affects the local and national responses towards disease prevention and transmission, the importance of the accuracy and quality of information in these certificates cannot be understated. Hence, accurate death certification related to COVID-19 is vital to understand the extent and progression of the current pandemic.