St. Maarten boosts death certification and mortality reporting with PAHO, RIVM support

GREAT BAY--A multidisciplinary team from the Pan American Health Organization and the Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu completed a collaborative mission to St. Maarten from 19 to 24 January 2026. The week-long engagement focused on strengthening the island’s systems for death certification and cause-of-death registration, key components of an effective public health and civil registration framework.

The mission began with three days of site visits, allowing the team to engage directly with institutions and professionals involved in different stages of the mortality reporting process. Visits to the St. Maarten Medical Center provided opportunities to observe clinical practices and meet with specialists across departments, including internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, emergency care, pediatrics, maternity services, and health information management.

Throughout the mission, the team also met with leadership and technical experts from the Department of Public Health, the Collective Prevention Services (CPS), a private mortuary, and other key agencies, including the Forensic Department and St. Maarten Police Services. These discussions supported the mapping of the full death reporting cycle, from certification and registration to coding and the eventual use of mortality data in public health surveillance.

A dedicated workshop brought general practitioners and other stakeholders together to refine and validate St. Maarten’s process map, ensuring roles, timelines, and data flows were clearly defined and aligned across institutions.

A two-day capacity-building session followed for health professionals and government staff. Physicians and medical examiners participated in intensive training on death certification and cause-of-death registration, grounded in WHO standards and practical, case-based exercises. Parallel sessions were delivered to policy and administrative personnel, focusing on tools that support automated coding and mortality data analysis, as well as business process mapping to improve workflow efficiency and alignment.

The mission was supported through a partnership between PAHO’s Trinidad and Tobago Country Office, PAHO Headquarters, Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu, and Statistics Netherlands. Together, they supported St. Maarten’s ongoing efforts to improve the quality and reliability of mortality data that informs public health planning, policy-making, and monitoring of health trends affecting the population.

By the end of the mission, participating institutions had strengthened technical capacity and improved cross-sector collaboration, supporting clearer, more consistent, and more accurate death certification processes. PAHO/WHO reaffirmed its commitment to continue working with St. Maarten and partners to strengthen systems that protect public health.

During the week of 25 January 2026, the RIVM and Statistics Netherlands team conducted a similar death certification and cause-of-death registration training exercise in Saba and St. Eustatius.

It is anticipated that this collaboration will be replicated in Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire during 2026.

In addition, the Dutch Caribbean Public Health Expertise Network (DUCaPHEN) forum is expected to support strategic planning, coordination, and alignment of core objectives and continued support. The forum is proposed to be held in June 2026 in Aruba.

‍