‘Record deaths on e-Mortality software’

The Health Department has directed District Health Officers to ensure that all deaths reported in their jurisdiction, both in private and public hospitals, should be recorded on the e-Mortality software developed by National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research under the Indian Council of Medical Research (NCDIR-ICMR).

In a circular issued on Wednesday, Health Director Om Prakash R. Patil said entry on the software should have the medical certification of cause of death. NCDIR director Prashant Mathur told The Hindu that NCDIR had incorporated ICD-10 codes published by WHO to facilitate recording of COVID-19 deaths on the software.

“This mortality software can be easily implemented in all healthcare facilities for recording, reporting all causes of death as per national list by the Registrar General of India. This will enable generation of timely data from every medical institution for monitoring by the department and to plan health services and containment of the pandemic. This will also strengthen e-JanMa for cause of death registration. ICMR will provide technical assistance for its Statewide implementation,” he said.

Sources said it is crucial to strengthen death surveillance in Karnataka, as there are gaps in recording and reporting cause of death from hospitals. Medical Certification of cause of death (MCCD) system in Karnataka is done manually through the government’s ‘e-JanMa’ portal and cause of death data from hospitals is not available for timely action.