CERTIFICATE OF DEATH AND CAUSE OF DEATH REGULATIONS

CERTIFICATE OF DEATH AND CAUSE OF DEATH

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 465.06

CERTIFICATE OF DEATH

AND CAUSE OF DEATH REGULATIONS

18th January, 2008

LEGAL NOTICE 11 of 2008, as amended by Legal Notice 426 of 2012.

The title of these regulations is the Certificate of Death and

Cause of Death Regulations.

Amended by

L.N. 426 of 2012.

(Regulation 2)

CERTIFICATE OF DEATH AND CAUSE THEREOF

1. Name and Surname .........................................................

2. Legally Valid Identification Document Number. ...............

Every medical practitioner shall, in every case of death,

immediately report to the Police and Superintendent of Public

Health the death and the cause thereof in writing and in accordance

with the form set out in the Schedule.

CERTIFICATE OF DEATH AND CAUSE OF DEATH

Sex: male  female  unascertained 

4. Age ..................................

Date of birth .........................................

For infant and fetal deaths

Birth weight (g): .............. Gestation (weeks) .................. Time of birth .............

Place of birth .....................................................................

8. Nationality .........................................................................

Permanent residence ..................................................................................

Employment status

employed  unemployed  pensioner  housekeeper  student 

unable to work 

Occupation (if retired please write previous occupation) ..............................

Name and surname of Parents and whether living or dead .............................

13a. Marital status

bachelor/spinster  married  widowed  other  (specify): ..............................

13b. Where applicable, name and surname of spouse ...........................................

Hour, day, month and year of death ..............................................................

Place where death occurred ..........................................................................

Cause of death

Approximate interval

between onset & death

D is e a s e or co nd it io n

directly leading to

a ...............................................

death*

due to (or as a consequence of)

Antecedent causes

b. ..............................................

due to (or as a consequence of)

Morbid conditions, if

any, giving rise to the

c. ..............................................

above cause, stating

due to (or as a consequence of)

underlying

condition last

CERTIFICATE OF DEATH AND CAUSE OF DEATH

II. Other significant

conditions contributing

to death but not related

to the disease or

condition causing it

* This does not mean mode of dying e.g. respiratory

failure. It means the disease, injury or complication that

caused death.

Deaths due to accidents or injuries

Date of Injury

Place of injury

How injury occurred: Injury at work

Yes 

No 

If female indicate if

-

death occurred during pregnancy: 

-

death occurred within 42 days after pregnancy: 

death occurred between 42 days and 1 year after pregnancy: 

-

Place of Burial ................................ Burial Permit no. ...........................

Name, Surname and Medical Council number of Medical Practitioner

21. Address .......................................................................................................

Signature of Medical Practitioner .................................................................

Date .............................................

HEALTH DIVISION DH

Instructions for certifiers

All information should be clear and legible. Do not use abbreviations. All

information regarding the deceased as requested on the death certificate should be

completed.

Item 2: A legally valid identification document number: This is important to

identify the deceased individual. If a legally valid identification document number is

not available the passport number should be entered.

Item 6: For Infant and fetal deaths: For all infant deaths up to 1 year of age and

fetal deaths it is important to record birth weight in grams, gestation in completed

weeks and time of birth, besides date of birth in item 5.

Item 9: Permanent residence: The person’s place of residence is the place where

he/she has been regularly resident for the past year. Never enter a temporary

residence as one used during a visit or holiday. If a person has resided in a home or

institution for a long time (more than one year) enter address of home or institution

otherwise enter previous residence. In the case of foreigners residing abroad (e.g.

tourists) their full address abroad should be entered.

Item 11: Occupation: This should be as complete as possible, describing the type

of work done and the kind of business/industry to which the occupation is related.

e.g. machine-operator in furniture factory, teacher in secondary education. If retired,

write type of work done during most of working life.

CERTIFICATE OF DEATH AND CAUSE OF DEATH

Item 16: Cause of death

Part I - is for diseases or conditions related to the sequence of events leading

directly to the death. Only one cause should be entered on each line. If the condition

on line a resulted from another cause, this other cause should be entered on line b,

and so on, until the full sequence is reported. Always enter the underlying cause of

death (the disease or injury which initiated the chain of morbid events that led

directly to death, or the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced

the fatal injury) on the lowest used line in Part I. For each cause indicate the best

time interval between the presumed onset and the date of death. Terminal events e.g.

cardiac arrest or respiratory arrest, should not be used.

If an organ failure such as congestive heart failure, hepatic failure, renal failure or

respiratory failure is listed as a cause of death, always report its etiology on the

line(s) below it. (e.g. congestive heart failure secondary to ischaemic heart disease).

Part II - is for any other significant condition/s that contributed to the fatal

outcome, but was not related to the disease or condition directly causing death.

Examples

Right

Part Ia. Brain metastases

Wrong

Part Ia. Primary

carcinoma lung

Ib. Primary carcinoma lung

Ib. Brain metastases

Right

Part Ia. Fat embolism

Wrong

Part Ia. Fat embolism

Ib. Fracture neck of femur

Ib. Fracture femur

Ic. Fell down stairs at home

Right

Part Ia. Bleeding of oesophageal

Wrong

Part Ia. Bleeding

varices

oesophageal

varices

Ib. Portal hypertension

Ic. Liver cirrhosis

Id. Chronic Hepatitis B

Part II: Diabetes mellitus

Part II: Liver cirrhosis

Item 17: Deaths due to accident or injury: it is important to give information about

the exact time of incident, place where injury occurred e.g. home, street, restaurant

etc. as well as how injury occurred e.g. while painting roof, as well as indicating

whether accident happened while at work.

Item 18. Pregnancy status: This is an important source of information needed to

calculate maternal mortality.

Note: Further information and examples on how to complete a death certificate

can be accessed through the Department of Health Information and Research

website

http://www.sahha.gov.mt/entities/healthinformation.html

Data Protection statement: The Health Division treats personal sensitive

information in a confidential manner, and undertakes to comply with the Data

Protection Act, Cap. 586. Details on this certificate will only be disclosed to Entities

within this Division and any other authority/body as permitted by law. Address any

queries to Department of Health Information and Research, 95, G’Mangia Hill,

G’Mangia PTA 1313 or via e-mail at healthinfo@gov.mt