Sindh makes history with real-time digital birth registration in hospitals
HYDERABAD: What if a child’s legal identity could be secured within minutes of birth? That future has arrived in Sindh, where the provincial government has launched real-time digital birth registration in major public teaching hospitals—ushering in a new era of instant, paperless civil documentation.
The first real-time digital birth registration was successfully carried out at Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences (LUMHS) Hospital in Hyderabad, where a newborn was registered immediately after delivery using NADRA’s Birth Notification Tool. The system ensures that birth data is transmitted electronically at the point of care, eliminating delays that previously left thousands of children undocumented for months or even years.
The initiative is being implemented under a tripartite agreement between the Sindh Health Department, National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), and the Local Government & Housing Town Planning Department. Officials describe it as the first practical milestone under Sindh’s reformed Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) framework, aimed at integrating healthcare with civil documentation through technology.
In addition to LUMHS, the system was also activated at Ghulam Muhammad Mahar Medical College Hospital in Sukkur, where multiple newborns were registered instantly using the same digital platform. Authorities say the reform allows secure, paperless registration at the hospital level, reducing manual errors, improving transparency, and generating accurate population data for health and development planning.
The project began as a pilot in July 2025 with technical support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). During the first phase, 36 public health facilities in Hyderabad and Matiari districts were connected to the digital birth registration system, and staff were trained to use the new platform.
In its second phase, the initiative has now expanded to 14 teaching and tertiary care hospitals across Sindh, integrating them into the real-time registration network. Officials believe this scale-up will dramatically improve the issuance of birth certificates, close long-standing documentation gaps, and strengthen child identity protection throughout the province.
The reform process is being overseen by the provincial CRVS Task Force under the vision of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and the directives of Murad Ali Shah. Senior administrators say the goal is to ensure that every child born in Sindh enters life with a legal identity from day one—an essential foundation for access to healthcare, education, and social protection.
As the system expands, officials say the real test will be sustainability and public awareness. But for now, the message is clear: in Sindh’s public hospitals, a newborn’s first record is no longer handwritten—it is digital, instant, and permanent.
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