In the absence of an international framework to guide and compel countries to undertake routine surveillance of overall mortality, countries have not prioritized mortality surveillance. Each country tends to conduct mortality surveillance in its own way leading to a non-uniform approach and resulting in incomplete and incomparable data over time and across areas. Many countries are struggling to produce reliable data or estimates of the number of deaths and their causes at a pace that can inform policy decisions. This is partly because mortality information is fragmented across sectors, data are incomplete and frequently classified as being of low quality. The need for accurate and timely data to inform the response to the COVID19 pandemic has driven countries to develop short- term solutions to capture overall and cause-specific mortality. It has also exposed data systems that could serve as opportunities to estimate excess mortality and understand its trends over time.
