Saving Lives with Data: Bangladesh’s SVRS System

A Story of Change: Why SVRS Matters

In a world that is increasingly driven by data, it is easy to forget that behind every statistic is a human story. But in Bangladesh, one of the most densely populated countries in the world, a quiet revolution has been unfolding for decades, a revolution built on the belief that every birth matters, every death deserves to be recorded, and no life should go unnoticed. This revolution is called the Sample Vital Registration System, or SVRS, and it is changing the way Bangladesh understands and serves its people.

More than 40 years ago, Bangladesh struggled with a lack of timely, reliable data on population trends, making it difficult to address key issues such as maternal health, child mortality, migration, and access to basic services. Policymakers had to depend on outdated census data, leading to inefficiencies in decision making. To overcome this challenge, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics introduced the Sample Vital Registration System (SVRS) in 1980. Over the years, this initiative has evolved from a simple data collection effort into a highly sophisticated, fully digitized system that provides real-time insights into births, deaths, marriages, and migration trends. Today, Bangladesh’s SVRS stands as a model for many low and middle income countries seeking to modernize their data collection processes.

The Journey of SVRS: From Paper to Digital Precision

When SVRS was launched in 1980, it covered just 103 Primary Sampling Units (PSUs), with each unit consisting of 250 households. Data collection was manual, relying on paper-based surveys that took months to compile, often leading to inaccuracies and delays.

Fast forward to 2024, and the transformation is remarkable. Today, SVRS covers 2,766 PSUs, representing more than 313,000 households across all divisions of Bangladesh. The system has transitioned from paper based recording to a fully digital, real time data collection system.

The data generated from SVRS is used to monitor and improve key indicators such as maternal and child health, access to water and sanitation, energy and infrastructure development, technology access, and tracking non communicable diseases. By providing real time insights into these critical areas, SVRS helps the government allocate resources where they are needed most, ensuring that developmental policies are data driven and effective.

One of the most groundbreaking updates to SVRS came in 2022 when the system introduced a pregnancy module to track and monitor maternal and neonatal health outcomes. Previously, high risk pregnancies and neonatal deaths often went unrecorded, leaving significant gaps in healthcare planning. Now, with this new module, every pregnancy in sample areas is recorded and tracked, allowing officials to identify expected birth events, monitor premature deliveries, detect abortions, miscarriages, and maternal deaths, and ensure timely antenatal and postnatal care for mothers and newborns. This innovation has already led to faster response times, reduced maternal mortality rates, and better planning for neonatal care. Consider a rural village in northern Bangladesh where a mother gives birth to a premature baby. Without proper medical attention, the child would face increased risk of disease and death. Thanks to the SVRS pregnancy module, local health officials receive updates about high-risk pregnancies. Within hours, medical professionals can intervene to ensure that the mother and child receive the care they need.

A major challenge in many low and middle income countries is the lack of accurate cause of death records. Without reliable data on why people are dying, it is difficult to design effective health care policies. SVRS now conducts verbal autopsies using World Health Organization guidelines to determine the cause of death through interviews with family members. The system also uses ICD-11 coding to standardize cause of death data, making Bangladesh’s health statistics internationally comparable. This has been instrumental in identifying key health risks and shaping better public health interventions. It is about giving dignity to those who have passed and learning vital lessons to prevent similar deaths in the future.

A Multi-Tiered Monitoring System for Data Integrity

One of the biggest breakthroughs has been the adoption of computer assisted personal interviewing, which allows surveyors to collect and upload data instantly through handheld devices. This shift has dramatically reduced errors, improved data accuracy, and enhanced monitoring and supervision at every level. Other important improvements to the system have included geofencing (to set virtual boundaries for the PSUs), GPS tracking of homes and data collection devices, and time-stamped data entries, which enhance accuracy and security. The introduction of audio recordings for verification, household photographs for authenticity, and dual online and offline monitoring has eliminated inaccuracies and ensured data quality.

To ensure the highest level of data accuracy, SVRS operates through a five-tier monitoring system that includes local female registrars who collect data at the village level, supervisors at the subdistrict level who verify and validate records, supervising officers at the district level who oversee quality control, divisional coordinators who ensure uniformity across regions, and Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics headquarters, which monitors and finalizes reports for policymaking.

This multi level oversight mechanism ensures that errors are minimized, and data reliability remains uncompromised.

What’s Next for SVRS?

Bangladesh is not stopping here. The next phase of SVRS, known as SVRS 2.0, will introduce even more advanced features, including quarterly data releases for faster insights into demographic changes, integration with the national civil and vital registration system (CRVS)  for a seamless data network, and the introduction of anthropometric measurement tracking to monitor malnutrition and child development. Bangladesh is also forming global partnerships to help other countries adopt similar models. This is done with an annual budget of BDT 500 million (~USD 5 million), the future of SVRS is secure and sustainable.

To learn more about Bangladesh’s other public health successes, see the Exemplars in Global Health Project.