Haryana to pilot Verbal Autopsy project in Rohtak

The Haryana government is launching a pilot Verbal Autopsy project in the Rohtak district to improve the quality and availability of cause-of-death information. Funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and led by AIIMS, New Delhi, the initiative aims to provide systematic data to support public health decision-making and health planning.

Over an approximately eight-month implementation period, the project intends to cover about 5,000 deaths. Designated health-system personnel, including Community Health Officers and Medical Officers, will use a mobile-based application to conduct interviews. The collected information will be reviewed by medical officers to assign causes of death according to prescribed processes.

This initiative is part of a larger AIIMS-led ICMR program titled ‘Implementation and Scaling Up of a Model to Achieve Universal Coverage with Physician-Ascertained Cause of Death at the District Level in India’. By supplementing routine death reporting, the project seeks to help authorities understand mortality patterns and prioritize public health interventions at the district level.