The National Vital Statistics System

The vital statistics system in the United States has always recognized the importance of collecting information about public health. Today, the national vital statistics system in the United States is a major cooperative effort between the states and federal agencies. The Vital Statistics Cooperative Program provides for collection of records of births, deaths, marriages, and other events on a national level. Moreover, increasing adoption of modern technology for record keeping and data exchange has resulted in faster and more accurate vital statistics reports. State data, supplemented by surveys administered by the National Center for Health Statistics within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, provide fundamental information for use in the arena of public policy and public health practice.