Distinguished delegates
Partners, colleagues and friends
A good morning to you all, and a very warm welcome to Thailand.
This is an important regional workshop, because – as we know - Civil Registration and Vital Statistics systems are the cornerstone of countries’ health information systems.
CVRS is fundamentally about data. The data from these systems is vital for understanding disease burdens, guiding policy interventions, and for the performance and response of health systems.
Data is, of course, one of the primary drivers of our 21st century economies and societies. The digital transformation of the past decades has resulted in the creation of more data than mankind has ever had before. This data is in itself now the foundation of the coming AI age. Countries that do not collect high-quality data will be disadvantaged developmentally economically and socially.
Some of you may know that our WHO South-East Asia Regional Office is guided by a strategic framework outlined in our Regional Roadmap for Results and Resilience. Endorsed and mandated by our Member States, this roadmap sets our medium-term focus areas and goals. Data impacts virtually every aspect of this Regional Roadmap – none more so than our stated goal of using innovation and technology to improve the health of our people.
Over the past decade, countries across our region have made great progress in strengthening their CRVS systems. They have been guided by the Regional Action Framework on CRVS in Asia and the Pacific, and our Regional Strategy for Strengthening the Role of the Health Sector in CRVS. I am pleased that we have been able to guide and support our nations in this.
Through strong collaboration between all stakeholders, we have seen improvements in birth and death registration completeness, increased adoption of WHO International Classification of Disease for cause-of-death coding, and better interoperability between CRVS and health information systems.
However, gaps remain. Incomplete death registration, poor-quality cause-of-death data, and weak data governance continue to be issues.
With the CRVS Decade concluding last year, this gathering allows us to take stock of the progress made, and identify gaps and lessons learned. We hope that this will lead to the development of actionable, country-specific roadmaps.
As you deliberate, I ask you to keep equity in mind. The SDGs enjoin us to “leave no one behind.” In our context today, that means guiding countries to establish truly inclusive CRVS systems that reach all individuals - particularly those historically excluded. Every birth and death must be counted. Without this, we cannot ensure data-driven interventions for equitable health outcomes. This also aligns with the second priority of our Regional Roadmap, which calls for investing in women, girls, adolescents, and vulnerable populations – all of whom continue to face health inequities.
Capacity-building is equally crucial for resilient CRVS systems. Here too we can look at our Regional Roadmap, which calls for raising capacity, knowledge management, and research. As WHO, we will continue to support countries to strengthen CRVS by enhancing workforce skills and knowledge, and promoting strategic investments in knowledge-sharing, research, and digital learning tools.
Strengthening institutional collaboration, South–South partnerships, and expert networks are also essential in ensuring robust, adaptable and responsive CRVS systems.
We are delighted to have all our CRVS partners come together to support this workshop. Your deliberations will also prepare us for the Third Ministerial Conference on CRVS in Asia and the Pacific, scheduled for June 2025. The Conference is an ideal opportunity to reinforce high-level political commitment to strengthening CRVS systems, and we must ensure it succeeds in this.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We all want to make sure that every individual is counted, that every birth and death is recorded accurately, and that the data is shared in a timely and responsible manner. We must therefore continue to strengthen CRVS governance, improve data quality, and mobilize sustainable investments in national health information systems.
I call on each of you to make this workshop a success and move us closer to these outcomes.
My thanks to all the Member States, sister UN agencies, and development partners who have already done so much to strengthen CRVS systems in South-East Asia.
I look forward to being appraised for your discussions and the outcomes. I hope you have a pleasant stay in this wonderful country and wish you a successful meeting.
Thank you.