On march 15, 2022Guangdong provinceThe health commission revised and issued the regulations for the management of birth registration in the health commission of guangdong province (hereinafter referred to as the scheme), which will be implemented from 1 may 2022. The act makes it clear that the birth of a child is not subject to re-approval, introduces a system of registration of all-calibre births and makes it more efficient and accessible to the population in terms of registration processes, processing of materials and processing time limits. The relevant revisions to the scheme are read as follows:
Background and rationale for the approach
On 26 june 2021, the party central and state council issued the decision on optimizing reproductive policy for the long-term balanced development of the population, which deploys and implements a three-child fertility policy and accompanying support measures, calling for “reform of the service management system to enhance the capacity of families to develop” and explicitly for “a complete delinking of admission, enrolment and entry levels from individual fertility”. On 20 august 2021, the standing committee of the national people's congress considered the adoption of a decision to amend the law of the people's republic of china on population and family planning, so that the “three-child fertility policy” would be formally incorporated into the law. On 9 december 2021, the office of the national board of health and health issued guidelines for the improvement of the birth registration system. (21) further, it is proposed that “the system of registration of births should be improved, the management of services at the grass-roots level should be strengthened, the work of maternity policies should be optimized, family development should be promoted and the population should be balanced over the long term, in accordance with the principles of the law。
On 1 december 2021, the standing committee of the guangdong people's congress considered the adoption of the amended regulations on population and family planning in guangdong province (hereinafter referred to as the regulations). The new amended regulations remove the provision on “the approval system for reproduction” and provide in article 20 that “the birth of a child shall be registered. It is the responsibility of the commune, street health work agency or directly from the county level to register births and to facilitate the birth registration services by strengthening the sharing of government data and optimizing business processes, as determined separately by the health and health authorities of the provincial people's government”。
My provincial approach was developed and implemented in 2016 in conjunction with the implementation of the comprehensive two-child policy and was revised in march 2021. The original scheme has played an important role in regulating the provision of mass birth registration and reproduction approval services by the grass-roots health administration throughout the province. With the implementation of the “three-child maternity policy” and the elimination of social support and other penalties, all citizens who have given birth to a child, including three or more children, are able to register births, and the content and requirements of the birth registration system have changed considerably. The scheme is no longer adapted to the new situation and needs to be adapted and improved。
In order to comply with the spirit of the relevant laws and regulations and with the requirements of the state, the provincial health and safety council has revised and refined the act. The name of the scheme was changed from the former maternity registration and rebirth approval management scheme to the maternity registration management scheme. The concept of specific terms is defined and regulated in the scheme and the relevant schedules have been modified。
Ii. Clarifying the nature and content of registration, reflecting the concept of a people-friendly people
This approach has undergone a major shift and innovation in the concept of services. This is reflected in the definition and clarification of the concepts of birth registration, the registration of births and the registration of births. It should be noted, in particular, that the act changed the reference to “registration of births” to “registration of births” and clarified that “reproduction certificates are documents issued by the authorities in order to register births for registered persons, not as a basis for compliance with the regulations”, emphasizing the neutrality and objectivity of birth registrations as a working tool for population monitoring and no longer as a tool for limiting fertility among the population。
At the same time, in order to achieve full coverage of the monitoring of births, the population's desire to give birth is being kept up to date. The first is the renewal of the requirement that unmarried births be registered; the second is the unrestricted registration of the domicile of the subject and of the population living in the province; the third is the registration of births of children, whether three or more children, who are registered in the province; and the fourth is the registration of births in an irregular location, whether the place of residence or the place of residence。
Iii. Removal of approvals, highlighting legal obligations
Prior to the implementation of the “three-child fertility policy”, persons eligible for rebirth under the former regulations were also required to obtain authorization before giving birth. Following the new regulations, the previous model of maternity registration and reproduction approval was completely changed, and registration services were introduced for all births. The registration of births under the scheme is a statutory administrative registration, “every child born shall be registered”. Birth registration should normally take place prior to the birth of the child or may be replaced after the birth of the child if it is not done in time. The processing agencies are also required to change the concept of work in a timely manner, from the previous approval management to the provision of registration services to facilitate and serve the public。
Simplified procedures and improved efficiency
The scheme fully reflects the in-depth implementation of the programme of work for the civilization of guangdong province through the further advancement of approval services (2018) 51) to further optimize the processing process and increase the efficiency of birth registration。
In the case of documentation for the registration of births, only one identity card and family register are required. In the original scheme, registration of births was accompanied by an identity card and a household register, and married citizens were required to provide a marriage certificate. In addition, families in special circumstances are required to provide documents or materials such as divorce certificates, disability certificates, death certificates, etc. As a result of this amendment, documents or materials other than identity cards or household registers are no longer required and no additional material, such as pregnancy certificates, is allowed to be added by local authorities. In the course of this process, the maternity registration platform has strengthened the sharing of government data. In most cases, registration documents can be obtained directly by electronic means, without being submitted manually, with the least possible reduction in the number of information submitted by the population, and with a view to eliminating the phenomenon of crowds running around, so as to give real expression to the concept of the welfare of the population。
At the place of processing, it is stipulated that “the registrant may register the birth at the place of residence or place of residence”. The registration of births is accompanied by the production of an electronic certificate from the birth registration certificate, which will facilitate direct public access to the electronic certificate from the birth registration certificate in other matters。
Third is innovative mechanisms. The scheme defines systems such as disclosure of government information (art. 16), initial accountability (art. 17), one-time notification (art. 18), time-limited closure (arts. 11, 12, 13 and 18), delegation of authority (art. 19), notification of commitment (art. 15), etc. The procedure and time frame for birth registration are clear, facilitating the population and reducing the burden on the grass-roots level。
Fourth is the introduction of online processing. In order to respond to the trend of informatization and the concept of accessible services, it is required that online processing, online processing, online feedback and real-time online processing of progress and results be promoted in all areas where online processing is available; and that areas where online processing conditions are not available are offered in a variety of ways to respond to public questions in a timely manner。
Fifthly, there is greater information. In addition to active registration, the province-wide health administration will establish a sound maternity information mechanism. All levels of health care, community health service centres and township health clinics are required to provide timely monthly information to local health-care facilities. On the basis of this information, the health services take the initiative to collect information on couples who have not yet registered their births and, after verification with their clients, register them. (c) declining the “applications” for birth registration, emphasizing the duty to register at the grass-roots level。
