Chester Gillan, Minister of Health, today announced that the first Annual Report which focuses on information compiled by the Prince Edward Island Vital Statistics Program is now available.
Minister Gillan said, “The report provides valuable information for health researchers and planners in determining the population’s health and health services. Vital Statistics data was available for researchers in the past. However, this is the first comprehensive report published by the Program. The report will be used to help determine the health status of Islanders and ultimately the services that will be provided for that population.”
The information presented in the report is based upon the legislated requirement for registration of vital events which occur in the province for residents and non-residents. The Vital Statistics Act requires that all births, deaths, stillbirths and marriages be registered with Vital Statistics. The Marriage Act and Change of Name Act are also administered by Vital Statistics. This report will include events which occurred in the calendar year for 2005 within the January to December time frame.
The Vital Statistics program also provides information and statistics to health professionals and planners when carrying out public health surveillance, health education and promotion, research into disease and cause of death, and health planning. The report summarizes information from vital events that were registered with the province.
The information obtained on the registrations was provided by parents, division registrars, physicians, coroners, funeral directors, religious representatives and marriage commissioners. To maintain confidentiality, identifying information for individuals is not disclosed in the report.
At a national level, the PEI Vital Statistics program, along with similar programs in other Canadian provinces and territories, share data with Statistics Canada for further compilation, analysis, reporting and comparison.
The main PEI office of Vital Statistics is located at 42 Douses Road in Montague and there is a branch office located at 16 Garfield Street in Charlottetown.