Accra: The Births and Deaths Registry in the Central Region has entreated cemeteries in the region to regularise their operations and directed them to demand burial permits before burial.
According to Ghana News Agency, the Registry observed that many families failed to register the deaths of their loved ones, and the situation was compounded by the activities of unregulated and illegal cemeteries which were only after money. The insistence on the documentation was to compel families to do the needful, which was legally required, to enable the Registry to capture the cause of death, particularly.
Mr Samuel Kwaku Tawiah, the Regional Registrar, explained that death registration was crucial in establishing new trends of the causes of deaths to inform policy and timely action. He stated that if there is a particular food or disease causing deaths, the Registry could provide the data for relevant institutions to take action. Similarly, in cases where factors like galamsey or motor accidents are prevalent, appropriate institutions could be informed for necessary interventions.
Mr Tawiah emphasized the potential risks of not reporting the cause of death, explaining that without this knowledge, a whole family could be at risk. He noted that death registration and burial permits were legal requirements that could be secured in less than 30 minutes, urging families to obtain them even if the deceased was being buried on the same day they died.
He also highlighted a concern that many cemeteries in the region were not regularised by law or the assemblies but were under the management of Nananom or private institutions. Mr Tawiah called for the collaboration of all stakeholders, including Nananom, mortuaries, hospitals, the police, and cemeteries, to ensure deaths were properly documented.
Furthermore, he advocated for the enhancement of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act to strengthen the role of the Registry in collecting data for better and properly structured economic planning.
