Key Points

Latest Official Documents

• Electronic certification is mandatory for all deaths occurring in healthcare facilities as of June 1, 2022 (see Decree of February 28, 2022)

• Under certain conditions, a state-certified nurse may issue death certificates (see Article 56 of Law No. 2025-199 of February 28, 2025)

• As of January 1, 2025, the neonatal certificate has been replaced by the infant certificate, which is to be used for deaths occurring up to 364 days of life (see Order of May 29, 2024)

Status as of 2024

• In 2024, in Mayotte, 9% of deaths were certified electronically (48% in France)

• Electronic certification is used exclusively at the Mayotte General Hospital, the territory’s only healthcare facility; by the end of 2024, despite Cyclone Chido in December disrupting existing infrastructure, one in five deaths occurring at the facility was certified electronically

• Electronic death certification is not yet used for deaths at home, even though the majority of deaths in Mayotte occur there; its use for this type of death could be facilitated by connecting municipalities to the HuBEE portal and using the mobile app

Use of Data

Electronic certification data can be used for surveillance:

• to measure the impact of epidemics such as COVID-19 or the flu

• to identify unusual trends in certain causes of death