Malaysia | Get Every One in the Picture

COUNTRY PROFILE
GOALS
Goal 1
Goal 2
Goal 3
Implementation steps
Events
News
Resources

Malaysia

The principal authority for civil registration in Malaysia is the National Registration Department (NRD), under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA). The NRD works with the Ministry of Health for birth registration, and with the Royal Malaysian Police for death registration. Vital statistics are produced and published by the Department of Statistics (DOS). In addition to those institutions, the national CRVS steering committee also includes the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Economic Planning Unit, the Attorney-general’s office, and other stakeholders.

In 2017, the period for timely registration were extended to respectively 60 days and 7 days, in a move to improve civil registration completeness. The completeness of registration is quite high and was already estimated to be over 95% in 2014. But there are still some regional inequalities, especially for Sabah and Sarawak, which, because of their isolations and the presence of indigenous populations, have lower registration rates. To tackle this issue, the Malaysian government has implemented several programs aimed at reaching isolated communities, such as mobile registration, or 1-Stop centers to simplify administrative processes.

Some challenges remain prominent for the CRVS system development, such as improving the quality of data, especially on causes of death, which still show significant differences between the sources.

CRVS Focal Point:

Mr. Azwan Kadir, Deputy Assistant Director, National Registration Department;
Mr. Zamari Mohd Ramli, Undersecretary National Registration and Societies Division, Ministry of Home Affairs

RSG Member:

Ms. Nazaria Baharudin, Deputy Chief Statistician, Malaysia Department of Statistics

Malaysia

Goal 1. Universal civil registration of births, deaths and other vital events

Goal 1 Targets:

1.A

By 2024, at least 98 per cent of births in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year are registered

1.B

By 2024, at least 99.5 per cent of children under 5 years old in the territory and jurisdiction have had their birth registered

1.C

By 2024, at least 99.5 per cent of all individuals in the territory and jurisdiction have had their birth registered

1.D

By 2024, at least 100 per cent of all deaths that take place in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year are registered.

1.E

By 2024, at least 100 per cent of all deaths recorded by the health sector in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year have a medically certified cause of death recorded using the international form of the death certificate.

Goal 2. All individuals are provided with legal documentation of civil registration of births, deaths and other vital events, as necessary, to claim identity, civil status and ensuing rights

Goal 2 Targets:

2.A

By 2024, at least 100 per cent of all births registered in the territory and jurisdiction are accompanied with the issuance of an official birth certificate that includes, as a minimum, the individual’s name, sex, date and place of birth, and name of parent(s) where known.

2.B

By 2024, at least 100 per cent of all deaths registered in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year are accompanied with the issuance of an official death certificate which includes, as a minimum, the deceased’s name, date of death, sex, and age.

Goal 3. Accurate, complete and timely vital statistics (including on causes of death) are produced based on registration records and are disseminated

Goal 3 Targets:

3.A

By...(year), annual nationally representative statistics on births – disaggregated by age of mother, sex of child, geographic area and administrative subdivision –are produced from registration records or other valid administrative data sources.

3.B

By ...(year), annual nationally representative statistics on deaths – disaggregated by age, sex, cause of death defined by ICD, geographic area and administrative subdivision – are produced from registration records or other valid administrative data sources.

3.C

By 2024, at least 100 per cent of deaths occurring in health facilities or with the attention of a medical practitioner have an underlying cause of death code derived from the medical certificate according to the standards defined by ICD (latest version as appropriate)

3.D

By 2024, the proportion of deaths coded to ill-defined codes will have been reduced to … per cent.

3.E

By 2024, at least … per cent of deaths taking place outside of a health facility and without the attention of a medical practitioner have their underlying cause of death code determined through verbal autopsy in line with international standards.

3.F

By ...(year), key summary tabulations of vital statistics on births and deaths using registration records as the primary source, are made available in the public domain in electronic format annually, and within one calendar year.

3.G

By ...(year), key summary tabulations of vital statistics on causes of death using registration records as the primary source, are made available in the public domain in electronic format annually, and within two calendar years.

3.H

By ...(year), an accurate, complete and timely vital statistics report for the previous two years, using registration records as the primary source, is made available in the public domain.

Goal 1. Universal civil registration of births, deaths and other vital events

Goal 1 is an expression of the internationally accepted principle of the universal coverage of civil registration. The CRVS system should register all vital events occurring in the territory and jurisdiction of the country or area, including among hard-to-reach and marginalized populations.

National Targets:

1.A

By 2024, at least 98 per cent of births in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year are registered

BASELINE

2014

100%

MIDTERM

2018

100%

TARGET

2024

98%

1.B

By 2024, at least 99.5 per cent of children under 5 years old in the territory and jurisdiction have had their birth registered

TARGET

2024

99.5%

1.C

By 2024, at least 99.5 per cent of all individuals in the territory and jurisdiction have had their birth registered

baseline

2015

92%

TARGET

2024

99.5%

1.D

By 2024, at least 100 per cent of all deaths that take place in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year are registered.

baseline

2014

100%

MIDTERM

2018

100%

TARGET

2024

100%

1.E

baseline

2014

100%

MIDTERM

2018

100%

TARGET

2024

100%

Goal 2. All individuals are provided with legal documentation of civil registration of births, deaths and other vital events, as necessary, to claim identity, civil status and ensuing rights

Goal 2 reflects that CRVS systems provide legal documentation of civil registration to individuals and families for legal and administrative purposes. Legal documentation is strongly linked with a broad range of rights and activities, in particular legal identity. This goal addresses the distinction between the civil registration of a vital event and the possession of formal proof that it took place, in the form of legal documentation.

National Targets:

2.A

baseline

2015

100%

TARGET

2024

100%

2.B

baseline

2013

100%

MIDTERM

2018

100%

TARGET

2024

100%

Goal 3. Accurate, complete and timely vital statistics (including on causes of death) are produced based on registration records and are disseminated

Goal 3 highlights the critical importance of civil registration being linked to the production and quality assurance of vital statistics on the occurrence and characteristics of vital events.

National Targets:

3.A

TARGET

Target achieved

3.B

TARGET

Target achieved

3.C

Note: This target was not monitored as part of the Midterm Questionnaire on the Implementation of the Regional Action Framework for CRVS in Asia and the Pacific.

baseline

2014

85%

TARGET

2024

100%

3.D

By 2024, the proportion of deaths coded to ill-defined codes will have been reduced to … per cent.

baseline

2013

1.5%

MIDTERM

2018

1.6%

3.E

Note: In light of recent countries’ experiences, Verbal autopsy is not encouraged to be applied to a large population scale, but rather on a representative sample. To reflect this, Target 3E is not anymore monitored by the coverage percentage of Verbal autopsy, but by the use or not of Verbal autopsy and its different applications.

MIDTERM

Yes

3.F

TARGET

Target achieved

3.G

TARGET

Target achieved

3.H

By ...(year), an accurate, complete and timely vital statistics report for the previous two years, using registration records as the primary source, is made available in the public domain.

TARGET