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    Why The Pandemic Could Change The Way We Record Deaths

    Before COVID-19 came along, the world wasn't so great at counting deaths and understanding why people die. But the virus has propelled countries to ramp up their efforts.
    by Pranav Baskar Sep 25, 2020 6 minutes
    An illegal roadside graveyard in northeastern Namibia. People in the townships surrounding Rundu, a town on the border to Angola, are too poor to afford a funeral plot at the municipal graveyard — and resorted to burying their dead next to a dusty gravel road just outside of the town.

    It's hard to keep track of the dead.

    And even the records we do have are not accurate.

    As the world approaches the 1 million mark for COVID-19 fatalities, public health experts believe the actual toll – the recorded deaths plus the unrecorded deaths – is much higher.

    But that's not just an issue with the novel coronavirus.

    According to World Health Organization data, each year, two-thirds of global deaths are not registered with local authorities. That's a total of 38 million annual deaths that aren't part of any permanent record. Not only are the numbers not part of any global death tally, but the cause of death is also not recorded — leaving policymakers without critical information about population trends and health.

    Now, that vast undercount of deaths might be changing — thanks to the virus. It's pushed the science of death-counting into the international spotlight, highlighting the importance of strong and developed death registries.

    "The pandemic has been a game-changer," says , a demographer working for the . "It's prompted the realization [among national governments] that comprehensive death registration is

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