title: An electronic register for vital registration in a rural village with no electricity in Malawi.
abstract: METHODS
  Chalasa village, Traditional Authority Mtema, Lilongwe District, Malawi.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To report on the deployment of an electronic register in a rural village with no electricity. Specific objectives were to document 1) challenges in setting up the electronic village register (EVR); 2) demographics of village residents, along with births and deaths over three quarters; and 3) the costs of setting up the system.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The main challenges were slow adoption of the EVR by the village headman, lack of health passports for village residents, double counting of some residents and difficult connectivity. These challenges were overcome. In terms of data, of 790 village residents, 379 (48%) were male, 417 (53%) were aged <15 years and 29 (3.6%) ⩾65 years. From April to December 2013, there were 18 births and 5 deaths. The cost of the EVR, including maintenance costs for 12 months, was US$6210.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An EVR was successfully deployed in Chalasa village, rural Malawi, and data on the resident village population, along with quarterly births and deaths, are now available. This is the first step towards a village-level civil registration system in rural Africa.
authors.affiliation: Baobab Health Trust, Lilongwe, Malawi.
authors.forename: O J
authors.initials: OJ
authors.lastname: Gadabu
authors.affiliation: Baobab Health Trust, Lilongwe, Malawi.
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Manjomo
authors.affiliation: Baobab Health Trust, Lilongwe, Malawi.
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Mwakilama
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Informatics for the Underserved, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Douglas
authors.affiliation: International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Paris, France ; London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Harries
authors.affiliation: Central Monitoring and Evaluation Division, Ministry of Health, Lilongwe.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moyo
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Lilongwe.
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Makonokaya
authors.affiliation: National Registration Bureau, Office of the President and Cabinet, Lilongwe, Malawi.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kang'oma
authors.affiliation: National Registration Bureau, Office of the President and Cabinet, Lilongwe, Malawi.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chitedze
authors.affiliation: National Registration Bureau, Office of the President and Cabinet, Lilongwe, Malawi.
authors.forename: F B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Chinsinga
keywords: Malawi; electronic village register; rural Africa; vital registration