CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Birth registration is the process by which a child’s birth is recorded in the

civil register by the government authority. It provides the first legal
recognition of the child and is generally required for the child to obtain a
birth certificate and as a result, any other legal documents and rights.

The documentation of births is a practice widely held throughout human

civilization, especially in China, Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Persia. The
original purpose of vital statistics was for tax purposes and for the
determination of available military work force. In England, births were
initially registered with churches, who maintained registers of births.
This practice continued into the 19th century. The compulsory
registration of births with the United Kingdom government is a practice
that originated at least as far back as 1853.

The first attempt at collecting data on births in Nigeria started in 1863

with the promulgation of the Ordinance No. 21 at the Lagos Colony
though actual registration of these events started in 1892. The success
spurred the government to expand the program to villages bordering
the colony including Warri in 1903 and Calabar in 1904. However, the
first conscious effort to have a universal system of registration of births
and deaths in Nigeria was in 1979. This was when the Federal
Government, in search of an alternative source of demographic data,
promulgated the 'Births and Deaths Compulsory Registration' Decree 39
of 1979'.
Between year 2003 and 2005, the National Population Commission
(NPC) has developed an Action Plan to create a more sustainable birth
registration system. The plan included the involvement of every part of
society, local communities and stakeholders, especially to help raise
awareness on the importance of birth registration. In addition, efforts
were made for a better coordination between relevant government
ministries and institutions involved in birth registration processes. The
NPC waived the payment of registration fees for three years (from July
2005-July 2008). Payment of fees in the past had hindered considerable
number of parents form registering the births of their children. The
waiver, coupled with heightened sensitization, resulted in a slight
increase of birth registration from a former national 28 percent in 2001
to an average of 30.2 percent in 2006.

The University Teaching Hospital, Ibadan is a Federal Teaching Hospital

located in Ibadan, Nigeria and attached to the University of Ibadan.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

The lowest levels of birth registration are found in sub-Saharan Africa

(43%) and Nigeria is highly involved in this dilemma. Children whose
births are unregistered and do not have a birth certificate, may not be
able to claim the services and protections due to them. It is difficult for
unregistered children to prove their legal identity and to access services.
In Nigeria, research findings of National Population Commission, 2010
about 70 % of the 5 million children born annually in Nigeria are not
being registered at birth. It was added that in Nigeria, 7 out of 10
Children do not have a birth Certificate. Having seen the vitality of the
birth registration process and the problems surrounding the
circumstance, it was on that backdrop that this study seeks to develop a
system of birth registration that will ease the process for health workers
and National Population Commission at the local government level.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY.

The purpose of this study is to design and implement an online birth

registration information system.

The objectives are as follows;

i. To simplify the process of birth registration in Hospital.

ii. To avoid data redundancy due to multiple registration of some births.

iii. To provide a system that is immune to flood or fire hazard.

iv. To prepare an organized database that is computerized for the

records of birth in the region.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Over the years, birth registration has been regarded that as a right of the
child to an identity and a nationality. With regard to the current
deficiency of birth registration in Nigeria, this study is considered
important to the entire society, as it will unveil a simpler approach to
conduct birth registration and also lead to accuracy of vital registration
report. It will also serve as benchmark to other related studies in the
future.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study is focused on designing and implementing a computerized

birth registration system for the University College Hospital, Ibadan.