State registrar wins award for revising model law on vital statistics

Hawaii State Registrar Alvin Onaka is being awarded for his work in revising a model law outlining uniform practices for collection of vital statistics.

Onaka received the award at the recent annual meeting of the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in New Orleans.

Onaka chaired a CDC group that revised the U.S. Vital Statistics Model Law, which promotes uniformity in state systems of vital statistics including births, deaths and marriages.

The group addressed changes electronic birth and death registration, advances in assisted reproductive technologies, same-sex marriage, civil unions, surrogacy, identity theft, data disclosure and confidentiality and records preservation.

The recommendations are being reviewed by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.