83.4% OF MATERNAL DEATH CERTIFICATES IN ZAMBIA ARE WRONG. THE MINISTRY KNOWS. NOTHING CHANGES- Andrew Kaumba
By Andrew Kaumba
83.4% OF MATERNAL DEATH CERTIFICATES IN ZAMBIA ARE WRONG. THE MINISTRY KNOWS. NOTHING CHANGES.
A 2025 study using Ministry of Health data found that 83.4% of maternal death certificates had errors in the immediate cause of death. 62.5% had errors in the underlying cause. Northern and Luapula Provinces had the highest error rates. The study concluded that training must be strengthened. The Ministry has not acted. Women are dying.
A 2025 study published in Discover Health Systems analyzed Maternal Death Surveillance and Response data from the Ministry of Health between 2018 and 2022 .
The findings are staggering.
83.4% of maternal death certificates in Zambia had errors in the immediate cause of death.
62.5% had errors in the underlying cause of death .
Eight out of ten death certificates for mothers who died in childbirth were wrong .
This is the Ministry’s own data .
The problem is worse in some provinces.
Northern and Luapula Provinces had higher odds of errors compared with other provinces .
The researchers concluded that there is an urgent need to “strengthen training of medical staff responsible for medical certification of maternal causes of death to adhere to the WHO guidelines” .
This is not just a data problem. This is a life and death problem.
If you cannot correctly record why a mother died, you cannot prevent the next mother from dying.
If you cannot track the causes of maternal death, you cannot allocate resources effectively.
If you do not know which provinces have the worst errors, you cannot target interventions.
The study was published in 2025. Using data from 2018 to 2022.
That means the Ministry has known about this problem for years. They have had years to fix it.
Why This Should Matter to Everyone:
This is not a political issue. This is not a personal issue. This is not about attacking doctors or the Ministry.
This is about mothers. Daughters. Wives. Sisters.
Every woman who gives birth in a Zambian hospital deserves to have her death accurately recorded if something goes wrong. Her family deserves to know why she died. The system deserves to learn from her death so the next mother does not suffer the same fate.
We all agree on that. No one is against accurate data. No one is against saving mothers’ lives. No one is against training doctors to correctly certify deaths.
So why is no one fixing this?
The study was published in 2025. The data is from 2018 to 2022. The Ministry has known for years. Northern and Luapula Provinces have the highest error rates.
We can agree that 83.4% is too high. We can agree that mothers deserve better. We can agree that the Ministry must act.
That is not controversial. That is common sense.
Questions to The Ministry of Health:
Why are 83.4% of maternal death certificates wrong?
What are you doing to fix it?
Tag the Ministry of Health.
Demand answers. Demand accountability.
I am not writing this to attack. I am writing this to demand answers.
83.4% of maternal death certificates are wrong. The Ministry has known for years.
These are not opinions. These are facts.
