Strengthening the Building Blocks of Public Health: Investing in Birth, Death, and NCD Data
Read about the commitment “Investing in data on births, deaths, and risk factors for non-communicable diseases” by Bloomberg Philanthropies, CDC Foundation, Global Health Advocacy Incubator, Johns Hopkins University, Pan American Health Organization, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Vital Strategies, & World Health Organization here.
Vital statistics—data on births, deaths, and causes of death—are the cornerstone of public health. Recognizing this, a coalition of global health leaders made a collective commitment at the 2024 UN World Data Forum to invest in data systems that track vital events and risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Led by Bloomberg Philanthropies and supported by organizations including the CDC Foundation, WHO, UNHCR, and regional UN Commissions, this commitment is already showing results.
In recent months, the Data for Health Initiative has supported a series of capacity-building workshops across Africa and the Pacific Islands, aimed at improving civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems, strengthening cause-of-death reporting, and equipping decision-makers and journalists with data-use skills.
Workshop participants receive their certificates of completion
Highlights from the field include:
- A 5-day workshop on surveillance data analysis and reporting in Kigali, Rwanda, hosted by the Rwanda Biomedical Center and CDC Foundation (April 2025).
- A Training-of-Trainers workshop for the Field Epidemiology Training Program in Papua New Guinea (April 2025).
- A North Pacific Medical Certificate Cause of Death training in Guam (April 8–11, 2025).
- A 3-day workshop for Francophone African journalists on CRVS data use, facilitated by Vital Strategies (March 2025).
- A regional ANACoD3 training in Nadi, Fiji, focused on death registration and accurate coding of cause of death (March 2025).
Beyond training, new partnerships are unlocking greater potential. In March 2025, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Pacific Community (SPC) announced a major new collaboration that triples the available resources for CRVS development across the Pacific Islands—an investment that will have lasting impact on health systems in the region.
The commitment also supports the dissemination of critical research. The Pan American Journal of Public Health, with funding from Data for Health, launched a special issue on CRVS research and emerging technologies in June 2025, adding momentum to the global conversation on strengthening vital statistics systems.
From hands-on workshops to academic publications and global partnerships, the work under this commitment is helping ensure that every birth is counted, every death is registered, and the causes behind them are understood—empowering countries to prevent disease, allocate resources, and build healthier futures.