Multiple birth registration affecting population count

THE Principal Assistant Registrar of the Births & Deaths Registry, Mr Kingsley Asare Addo, has observed that the multiple registration of births is affecting the accurate estimation of the country’s population.
“We do not even know the actual population of the country. What we normally say is that we are about 22 million people and over. But that should not be the case, since we need to know the actual population of the country for development,” he said.
Mr Addo, who made the observation in response to a question at a seminar on child health care in Accra last Tuesday, said the country held a census once in a decade and for one person to be registered twice meant an inflation in the population figure.
“You must register your child once, and that should be done before he or she is one year old. The cost of registration is borne by the government because it is interested in statistics for planning and development,” he noted, and indicated that “the cost of registration of a child after one year will, however, have to be paid by the parents of the child”.
Mr Addo said some parents failed to register the births of their children immediately they were born and did so only when the need for a passport arose.
The practice, he said, should be frowned upon because it made it difficult for the government to plan adequately.
He added that the proper registration of infants had helped particularly the developed countries to develop at the rate they were developing because they knew the actual figures of their population and, therefore, planned accordingly for the provision of social amenities and other basic needs of their people.
He pointed out that the registration of children helped in the estimation of population growth, fertility and mortality rates, as well as other demographic parameters.
The registration of children, Mr Addo added, established their identity, parentage, nationality and protection and also facilitated their enrolment in schools.